Leslie’s Movie Review
Kurt Cobain
Montage of Heck
I
By Leslie Johnson
f you were around in the early 90’s and turned
the radio on- because that was our only source
of music other than MTV (before MTV turned
into garbage television with NO music) you always heard Nirvana. It was a time of flannel shirts,
ripped jeans, baggy sweaters and Seattle. Nirvana
was all over the magazine covers and constantly
in the news. One of several alternative bands from
which an entire genre was born--otherwise known
as the grunge era. We all saw Cobain’s drug use.
We all knew that he, the lead singer and guitarist
of Nirvana, was married to that train wreck. His
personal life, along with his music was permanently displayed on the MTV headlines. Kurt Loder and
Tabitha Soren made their livings off of Cobain on
MTVNews. But we viewers only saw what they
wanted us to see. Back then doors were still closed
and secrets were hidden from view. Today privacy
doesn’t exist like that because of the power of social
media and the fact that everybody has a computer
and a camera in their pocket. This film artfully examines the unglamourous side of their story. Completely composed of interviews with friends and family members, notebook and other entries from Kurt
himself including many drawings, lyrics, and ideas,
footage from home videos and backstage. Here, we
see a new version of a twenty year old story that’s
always been somewhat of a mystery.
Beginning with Cobain’s childhood growing up in
Aberdeen, Washington, his history begins to show
us what made him a dark soul. Coming from a divorced family and being moved around from home
to home because of behavioral issues, this caused
Cobain serious angst and the painful feeling of rejection from those who should love him unconditionally--his family.
Segments of the film are told by Cobain, as he
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reads from his journal or while recording a song;
each of its layers is brought to life through some fantastic animation.
Entirely scored with Nirvana’s music, the renditions of their songs are particularly eerie and
spooky. The story told in this film is quite depressing and one could even say a bit disturbing. Many
of Cobain’s entries were about suicide, or about his
lack of feeling accepted by others. It is all very sad
and dark in his mind, although in the footage shown
he always seems to be smiling and having fun, albeit strange and twisted, but fun none the less. The
director, Brett Morgan, interviewed Cobain’s mother, Wendy O’Connor, who told what it was like with
Kurt as a child. She described him as a magnetic and
compassionate boy. Then as a teen who was clearly
gifted and tormented. His mother honestly reveals
her own mistakes, as well as her deep love for her
son. A quick interview with Kurt’s father, Don Cobain, and his stepmother, Jenny Cobain, basically
shows why he and his wife asked Kurt to leave their
house twice in one year. Kurt never really lived with
his father for a long period of time after the separation from his mother; they were too different. In the
interview, his stepmother does most of the talking.
They couldn’t handle Kurt she said. He was starting to do naughty things like stealing and smoking.
He was in need of an outlet, which he soon found in
music.
Cobain started playing with drummer Dave
Grohl (Foo Fighters) and bassist Krist Novoselic out
of a garage. Before YouTube that’s how bands did it.
One disappointing piece in this film was that Dave
Grohl was absent from the majority it. We saw him
in footage early on from the band’s interviews but
there were no interview from him, leaving the film
feeling a bit empty. We do, however, hear firsthand
June• 2015