Sing ‘Hallelujah’ for the Cohen doc to open Friday

Above : The documentary “Hallelujah: Leonard Cohen, a Journey, a Song” is scheduled to open Friday at the Magic Lantern Theatre. (Photo/Sony Pictures Classics)

Many music-minded documentary features have been made about individual musicians, their work and their influences.

Few of those films, however, have focused on a musician and a single song. Imagine trying to do that with artists especially as dramatically different in style as, say, Bob Dylan and Beyoncé.

Which brings us to the late Leonard Cohen . It’s not as if, after a long career that culminated in his death at age 82 in 2016, he didn’t compose a number of well-known tunes.

I’ll always associate him with “Suzanne,” the poem he turned into a song that – recorded by Judy Collins among others – he included on his 1967 album “Songs of Leonard Cohen.” If not that then “So Long, Marianne” or “Sisters of Mercy” from the same LP.

But it is Cohen’s composition “Hallelujah” that inspired filmmakers Daniel Geller and Dayna Goldfine to make their documentary titled “Hallelujah: Leonard Cohen, a Journey, a Song.”

The film, which is scheduled to open Friday at the Magic Lantern Theatre – finders crossed – is attracting mostly good reviews.

A.O. Scott of the New York Times wrote that the documentary is “not a movie designed to make you feel better about anything, except perhaps Cohen himself. But this generous documentary is nonetheless likely to be a source of illumination for both die-hard and casual fans.”

Variety critic Owen Gleiberman wrote, “There’s totally an audience for a music doc this rich (though it could use a catchier title), one about how a quiet artist, without planning to, created a song heard round the world.”

And Xan Brooks of The Guardian added, “Hallelujah is one for the fans, thorough and informative, like a set of cinematic liner notes, largely content to marvel at the majesty of its subject and the vibrant afterlife of his work.”

That’s it for the moment. I’ll update as the week progresses.

Meanwhile, Alexa is playing me a bit of Cohen’s greatest hits … ah, yes.