The people who usually leave a lasting impression on society and are often seen as icons unfortunately have in common that the died earlier than expected. You might wonder whether James Dean, Marilyn Monroe, Amy Winehouse and also Kurt Cobain might have left the same impression had they died in their eighties. The fact that they are suddenly no longer there make us dream about the potential that will never be realised anymore and makes us appreciate what they left even more. These are people who were popular and who haven’t lived to a time where they were less popular. It is exactly that reason why they speak to our imagination.
At 27 years old Kurt Cobain took his own life in 1994. This documentary only mentions that fact at the end in a short text, without giving it much attention. It’s all about Kurt Cobain, the person.
The special thing about this documentary is that it has been made with the help of and approval of his widow Courtney Love. Documentarian Brett Morgan got access to the personal diaries, home video and and audio tapes. With it he tries to give the viewer an idea about the life of Cobain, from little boy to the unwilling superstar who had a huge impact on the music scene.
I have never really listened to Nirvana myself, so I knew very little about Cobain, but Montage of Heck succeeds in giving a good overview of who he was. This is done by showing (sometimes shocking) drawings he made, which have been animated or by playing parts of audio Cobain recorded which are supported by amazingly realised roto-scoping animation. The result is a film which makes you understand the mindset and why he responded to specific questions a certain way and how he all used it in his music.
Besides the material of Cobain himself his wife and bass player Krist Novoselic are interviewed. Montage of Heck never tries to show him as an icon, but just a man who had some serious issues. Cobain and Courntey Love had a drug addiction, which even resulted in them losing custody of their daughter for a while. Although the movie is slightly too long (the homevideo footage was a bit too much), this is a must see for Nirvana fans.
Great summary. This one touched me deeply as I have listened to Nirvana since I was seven years old.
Have you heard about the documentary about Courtney Love’s alleged involvement in Kurt’s death? It is called Soaked In Bleach, and while I’m not really into conspiracies (any more), it provides some very thought provoking notions.
It also reeeeally changes the way you see this film. I’d really recommend watching Soaked In Bleach and then seeing this again. Its like a totally different doco. Though you said you’re not really a fan so I dunno if you’d be interested.
And how about Courtney Love saying she ‘almost cheated’! I really was shocked by that, she tried to paint herself as a saint because she ‘could have done it but didn’t’!!
I dunno, perhaps its cos I’m a fan of the band, but a lot of her comments rubbed me the wrong way.
Yeah, I have heard about that documentary and when I read it was a conspiracy one I passed on it.
I didn’t have much history with the band or Courtney Love, so I never felt something like that about her comments.
That’s exactly why it succeeds – it really paints him as this normal guy, which he was, it shows the humanness of him, which is what we miss out on when we glorify someone, especially someone who’s dead.
Yeah this film did a great job of focusing on Kurt as a person, not as some all-knowing saint. I also liked that about this film
Exactly, it does succeed in showing him as a normal person who was regularly fighting his inner demons
I agree with you about the documentary being too long.
Unfortunately, I thought the documentary was average. It also suffered, in my opinion, from the lack of a current Dave Grohl interview. This was most likely the price to be paid in order to secure the private footage from Love, due to her animosity towards Grohl–but it was a gapping hole in the film. Also, though it was a documentary about his life, the passing way in which his suicide–and its aftermath–was handled was a bit flippant.
I was hoping to love this doc, but it didn’t leave an impression on me.
I agree with this, Grohl’s absence was rather off-putting and really left a hole in the story, especially given Krist was a part of it.
His daughter not appearing was also odd, though I guess I can understand why she didn’t appear
I can’t say I’m all that familiar w/ Nirvana or its music, apart from that one famous song ‘Smells Like Teen Spirit.’ But I might rent this one nonetheless. It’s always sad when a talented artist falls because of drug addiction.
Yeah, it is an interesting watch because it simply is a very well made documentary.