Hot Picks: So Long, Marianne

So Long, Marianne tells the story of Canadian singer and poet Leonard Cohen and his Norwegian partner Marianne Ihlen. An intimate tale of two lonely people falling in love, it takes place during a period of their lives when they are trying to figure out their place in the world – before Cohen becomes one of the most famous artists of all time.

The story is partly located in New York, Montreal and Oslo – capital of Ihlen’s home country, Norway. But the majority of the series is set on the picturesque Greek island of Hydra, where the couple lived during the 1960s.

There, they join Australian novelist Charmian Clift and her journalist husband George Johnston, the matriarch and patriarch of a bohemian group of writers, artists, poets and outcasts who are exploring a new world of free love, drugs and artistic freedom, but also experiencing the rivalries and jealousies of their intense, interwoven lives.

Cineflix Rights head of scripted James Durie says the series will have an innate appeal to Cohen fans, but will also resonate with a broader audience. “So Long, Marianne doesn’t set out to be a Leonard Cohen biopic – it’s about two troubled people trying to find their identities,” he explains. “It has something of the feel of Normal People, and as such will appeal to a young audience that has no idea who Leonard Cohen is.”

Shooting on Hydra was challenging because no cars are allowed, “which meant we were very dependent on donkey handlers to move cameras and lighting equipment,” says Durie. “But the series had to be shot on the island to show just how life would have been for Leonard and Marianne. Hydra is so distinctive it becomes like a character in the series.”

Perhaps not surprisingly, Cosmote TV and Star Channel (Greece) have already acquired the series.

So Long, Marianne is co-produced by Redpoint Productions, Tanweer Productions and C3 Media, with Buccaneer Productions and Redpoint sharing production duties. NRK Norway, Bell Canada and NDR Germany were involved from the outset, with ITVX later acquiring the show.

Durie says this kind of “collective model is something we are moving towards. The IP underpinning this show is fantastic, so going down the co-production route meant we were not sacrificing the budget necessary to tell the story well.”

The cast is a blend of rising talent and established faces. Headlining are Alex Wolff (Oppenheimer; Jumanji) as Leonard, with Thea Sofie Loch Næss (The Last Kingdom; Delete Me) playing Marianne. Joining them are Anna Torv (The Newsreader; The Last Of Us) as Charmian Clift, and Noah Taylor (Peaky Blinders; Game Of Thrones) as George Johnston.

“Alex sent an audition tape of him performing Leonard Cohen songs,” says Durie. “His likeness was uncanny and his musical ability is such that he ends up singing a lot of the songs during the course of the series.”

The series is now in post production, and the first episode will be launched to buyers at the London TV Screenings. Durie is confident it can play across a range of platforms: “We already have a public broadcaster [NRK] and a streamer [Bell’s Crave] on board, which shows the potential.”