live footage: leonard cohen

(via Nowness)

In 1972, a young filmmaker named Tony Palmer followed a then-ascending Leonard Cohen on his tour of Europe with the hopes of capturing a film that could be used as both a promotion for Cohen and a snapshot of a particular moment in his career. Like Eat the Document before it, when the subject got a look at the material, he was concerned; Cohen spent months re-editing and rearranging Palmer’s film to create a different version, which was released in 1974. The original was thought to be lost forever but — in one of those terrific cinema miracles — the full version was discovered collecting dust in a vault in Hollywood.

Now, 38 years after its creation, Palmer’s original version of Bird on a Wire is set for DVD release. If it’s anything like the clip above, we’re all in for something spectacular.