Original-Cin Q&A: Matthew Bissonnette and Gabriel Byrne talk Leonard Cohen and Death of a Ladies' Man
Inspired by the work of Leonard Cohen, and set to some of his most beloved music, Death of a Ladies’ Man stars Gabriel Byrne as a carousing professor whose life takes a series of unimaginable turns.
The film is written and directed by former Montrealer Matt Bissonnette, who has referenced Cohen in his previous work. It’s a Canada-Ireland co-production, shot in Montreal and rural Ireland.
Read our review of Death of a Ladies’ Man
Our Bonnie Laufer spoke with Gabriel Byrne and Matt Bissonette about the film and the inspiration of Leonard Cohen’s music and lyrics.
Gabriel Byrne and Jessica Pare in Death of a Ladies Man
Death of A Ladies Man is available March 12 to rent or buy on the Apple TV app/iTunes and other VOD platforms. Or to rent on VIFF Connect (BC only).
The film also opens March 12 in select theatres (Ottawa, Kingston, Regina, Saskatoon and Charlottetown) and throughout the spring in other cities.
ORIGINAL-CIN: Matt, you are no stranger to Leonard Cohen’s work. What was the inspiration for, Death of A Ladies Man?
MATT BISSONETTE: It really sprang out of the narrative and the things we wanted to talk about, which is essentially bridging the gap between fantasy and reality or between desire and reality.
PROUDLY SUPPORTS ORIGINAL-CIN
I think that's something that Cohen, in a very meaningful but also humorous way, struggled with or labored with for his entire career. So it just seemed natural for me to take this route. Also, being from Montreal I have that hometown affiliation to Cohen that's been with me ever since I was a kid.
O-C: Gabriel, playing the lead role of Samuel, had to have been quite enticing. But I would think that knowing you would be going back to Ireland was a no brainer for taking on the role.
GABRIEL BYRNE: I have to say that the transition from Samuel’s reality into the world of fantasy was a huge draw for me. It was something that I thought in the script was just done seamlessly and so beautifully.
It could have been a moment where the audience just disengaged and said, “What is this about? Why is he suddenly in Ireland driving a car?”
Director Matthew Bissonnette
On one level, which of us would not like to return to address the demons and mistakes of the past? Secondly, the fantasy that he concocts for himself it's a fantasy of pure love. It's romantic and it's also about him becoming the best man that he can be.
We see the fragile kind of imperfect man that he is but the second part of the movie in his fantasy reveals him to be this pure character and I found that very moving.
Of course, any chance I have to return to my beloved Ireland is a bonus, but I think that this script was very moving and at the same time very hopeful and innocent. It's a very hopeful film for something that looks like it could be headed towards a kind of a gloomy conclusion. It actually ends on a very hopeful note, and what I think helps the film is the humor that Matt sprinkles in to lighten it up.
O-C: Matt was Gabriel, always your number-one choice because I couldn't think of anybody else who could play this role.
BYRNE: Matt, be careful when you answer this question. I can see you on the screen!
BISSONETTE: (Laughs) OK, Gabriel! From the moment the pen hit the paper. (Laughs).
Once Gabriel came on board, we had lunch together and he was as gracious as ever. We had a lovely lunch and talked about the character. And it was so obvious that he understood at least as much or more than I did about the person on the page. And the film really shaped around him after that point.
O-C: Gabriel, after doing a role like this if you could go back and talk to your father, what would you ask or say to him that maybe you never had a chance to say?
BYRNE: Well, I think that's a very profound question. You know these things that they sometimes say to you, if you had a dinner party and you could invite anybody who would you invite?
People say, “Oh, Abraham Lincoln, EInstein, Steve Martin.” They come up with famous people. I've always thought the answer to that is without hesitation, my father, my mother, my grandfather, my great-grandfather and so-forth so that I could sit around and just listen to them.
The truth is, I listened to my father with one ear my entire life, but I never truly heard him until he was gone.
O-C: Isn’t that so true for all of us.
BISSONETTE: I think the interesting thing about families is that your “mine” is never exhausted because it's the only mine we know. There is no other story in a kind of sense because it's a genesis every single time.
Not to get too profound here, but everyone has their own personal genesis. It's the people who created you and literally made you, and then sort of made you as you grow with them.
I never get tired of going back to that, whether it's a brother or a mother or a father. It seems like the only thing to write about or engage with, at least for me.
That's a way of me not directly answering your question, but I think you get what I mean.