Kurt Cobain About A Son
Directed by: AJ Schnack

It’s been almost 14 years since the death of Kurt Cobain, and it’s kind of surprising that up until now we still hadn’t seen a definitive attempt to tell his story on film. Gus Van Sant’s Last Days could qualify, technically speaking, but it quite literally focused on the final days of his life and it’s hard to say how much of that movie was based on reality. The Nick Broomfield documentary Kurt & Courtney was even less credible and hardly a fitting epitaph.

I’m assuming that the main reason for the lack of a Cobain movie thus far has been Courtney Love’s unwillingness to part with the rights, but from the sounds of it, she’s finally in the process of making one herself. Whether we like it or not, one day there will be a big budget mainstream Kurt Cobain biopic, but in the meantime I’m just glad that director A.J. Schnack and Michael Azerrad were first able to put together this intimate little documentary/visual portrait called Kurt Cobain About A Son. It may not capture every facet of his life and influence, but I can guarantee you that a biopic could not even come close to creating an experience as authentic and genuine as this.

Kurt Cobain About A Son is not your typical documentary, and in fact, it’s more of a visual art collage than a standard talking head documentary. There are no home videos, no Nirvana live footage, and no interviews with family members and former bandmates. The only voice you really hear throughout the movie is that of Kurt Cobain himself, talking from audio interviews that Michael Azerrad had recorded while writing the book Come As You Are. In this way, he narrates the film himself, set to film footage from the three main cities where he grew up: Aberdeen, Olympia and Seattle. They also mix in some still photography and some short animated segments. Instead of using the music of Nirvana (I don’t know if they even tried to get access to it), they turned a potential limitation into a strength by putting together a sort of mixtape featuring all of the bands that influenced Cobain over the years. The result is an insanely personal experience, and a fitting tribute to this man that has become a cultural icon.

The audio interviews with Cobain are obviously a treasure trove and it’s such a privilege to finally get to hear these. They aren’t just a regurgitation of things you may have read in Come As You Are; as Michael Azerrad explains in one of the DVD extras, a lot of the quotes that were the most poignant didn’t quite work as well in text, so they were left out of the book. He talks about everything from his childhood and his family life to his connection with art and punk rock and how fame changed things for him.

Many of the visuals are stunning, and the way that some pieces are woven together with the music they form little mini-music videos. I was reminded of Koyaanisqatsi at certain points, since they make use of a lot of time-lapse photography just like Godfrey Reggio did in his masterpiece. At times, however, A.J. Schnack is forced to stretch things a bit in order to constantly find imagery that relates to the words being spoken, which only drives home the point that the visuals ultimately play second fiddle to the audio.

Now, while this is probably the most unpretentious way you could possibly make a movie about Kurt Cobain, the downside is that it’s not really going to speak to the casual viewer. Just as I didn’t get much out of I’m Not There, Todd Haynes’ art house tribute to Bob Dylan, there are a lot of people who will watch this and lose interest after 10 or 15 minutes. In a way, it’s funny because Kurt Cobain always insisted that his life story was pretty boring, and in some ways this movie confirms it. It wouldn’t be hard to get lost in the mesmerizing score and the sound of his quiet voice, and as you see the mundane nature of the places where he grew up, you might forget why you’re even watching a movie about this guy in the first place.

In the years following his death, a lot of things have been said about Kurt Cobain, with some people calling him a genius and the “voice of a generation”, while others labelled him a three-chord hack and a self-absorbed junkie. If you’re looking for a movie to settle the debate, About A Son will not do it. What this movie does do, however, is put aside all the hype and the media spin and get to the heart of what made Kurt Cobain tick. In the end, it reminds us that not only was he was human, but he was a product of his environment, and in many ways a reflection of societal change that was happening around him. He was surprisingly smart and observant, but also full of contradictions. I don’t know if we’ll ever see another musician quite like Kurt Cobain, but as a fan, I can say that this movie is a great way to remember him. — Sean

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Recommended If You Like: Fugazi: Instrument, Helvetica, Koyaanisqatsi, Last Days

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