What’s the inspiration behind all of these documentaries? Are all of the directors really excited for the reboot of the Poltergeist franchise? Or are they simply just preparing us for the next dead celebrity? I hate to say this but I think that Andre 3000 has now surpassed the invincible Scott Weiland as the next candidate to join this list; if a million fans screaming your name and thousands of groupies throwing their panties at you can’t make you enjoy tour life, then I’m not sure what can. By the way, I would have said Sisqo but clearly he wants underwear the dick holes thrown at him, so he’s obviously in the wrong profession.
Kurt Cobain: Montage of Heck is unlike most of the other documentaries we’ve seen about Cobain or Nirvana to this point. Most of the documentaries in the past have put their focus squarely on Cobain’s drug use or the battle that exists between his former bandmates and his bitter ex-wife. But this movie starts from his early childhood and takes you all the way through the rise of Nirvana without any kind of hidden agenda behind it. I kept waiting for them to present Love or the media as this evil entity that ultimately led to his death but director Brett Morgen never did. I am sure the fact that Frances Bean was one of the main producers of this film had something to do with that but they never went out of their way to prove her innocence or anything of that nature.
You can draw your own conclusions as to what ultimately led to his suicide, and the movie certainly does give you plenty of evidence to do just that, but Morgen leaves it up to the viewer to decide what happened by simply presenting facts of his upbringing and the environment he grew up around.
You see how hard his parent’s divorce was on him and how it eventually led to him reaching out to drugs, music, and art to help cope with it. Through the use of personal recordings, artwork, lyrics, and notes, you get to see how he eventually grew into the public figure that took the world by storm in the 90’s and still has people wishing they had seen them perform live today. He was always the uncomfortable in his own skin introvert you saw in interviews but in this movie you learn about his rebellious stage as a teenager where he was stealing booze and smoking weed with the local losers, get an in depth look at first relationship with Tracy Marander, and you learn of his lifelong desire to be the ultimate family man. And it was this last part that became the driving force behind his music.
I truly believe that no documentary should be longer than 90 minutes long, and this one runs for just over two hours, but Morgan does an excellent job of never allowing there to be a lull in the material he presents. Where most documentaries will just present still photos with boring instrumental music playing over them during transitional periods, he instead plays Nirvana’s amazing music over weird stock footage and some of Cobain’s odd drawings.
Every interview with his parents, his sister, and even the toned down Love shows just how much he is still missed and how much of an impact he had in their lives. And you even see how much Love and Cobain truly loved one another; but it was just painfully obvious that they were probably also the worst thing that could have happened each other. Krist Novoselic provides some interest insight into Kurt’s history but noticeably absent in this film was Dave Grohl, quite possible the one who benefited the most from this man’s life.
Watching this film reminded me of just how incredible this band truly was and how I was a part of a something special without even realizing it. No one should ever question Nirvana’s mark on music and this is a great film to show someone who has never really experienced the band. I rate this movie as very FRESH and I suggest you watch it.
Now I am off to go watch the Cosby episode with B.B. King. Rest in peace.
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