I don’t know. All I can say is see “Elvis” while it is still in theaters. It is worth it.
3. “Hallelujah: Leonard Cohen, a Journey, a Tune”
Daniel Geller and Dayna Goldfine’s moving documentary looks into the legacy of its singer-songwriter Leonard Cohen, whose internationally distinguished hymn, “Hallelujah,” acts as the prism through which his life is explored. Documentaries can be every bit as thrilling a cinema experience as narrative functions, and this movie is no exception.
I have frequently questioned why the lyrics to “Hallelujah” had a practically mystical mix of the spiritual and the profane. This movie answers that question, rather. We discover that the song was composed by Cohen over a duration of years and that as many as 80 to over 100 verses were composed, but not all utilized. They have been mixed in numerous mixes with the lyrics to the earlier variations being more scriptural: “I heard there was a secret chord that David played and it pleased the Lord.” While some of the later lyrics consisted of more of the sexual undertones that were maybe playing out in his life and career: “There was a time when you let me know what’s truly going on listed below, Now you never ever show it to me, do ya.”
And then there is the verse that hints at the stories of David and Bathsheba, and Samson and Delilah, which is generally excluded, for example when the song was utilized in the animation “Shrek.” “Your faith was strong but you need evidence, You saw her bathing on the roofing system, Her appeal and the moonlight toppled ya. She connected you to a cooking area chair, she broke your throne and she cut your hair, and from your lips she drew a Hallelujah.”
I appreciated the way the documentary took us through Cohen’s life from his days as a poet from an upper class family in Montreal, to his practically accidental profession as a singer, but using the history of the Hallelujah song as the car. The paradox is that the song was thought to be unreleasable in 1984, by an American record label, and was released only in Europe. Thankfully John Cale and after that the late Jeff Buckley discovered it, and performed it for rapturous audiences. It was just then that Cohen became referred to as its author and promoted its easy but memorable rhythm.
Now it has actually ended up being so ubiquitous that not many individuals stop to listen to the actual words. Because of the power and the impact of the really word “Hallelujah,” most translate it to be a song of gospel and faith and redemption. Since of that, it is played or carried out at funeral services and funeral; it was sang by gospel terrific Yolanda Adams in January 2021 at the COVID Memorial service at the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool. No matter Cohen’s real intent of the tune, when it is sung with passion and devotion by people like Yolanda Adams or Brandy Carlisle you can almost hear the paradises skyrocketing.
Source: https://www.rogerebert.com/chazs-blog/five-movies-to-see-only-in-theaters