Cobain: Montage of Heck

An overly long and indulgent disappointment of a rock doc that brings nothing new to the party. Much is left out with gaps filled in by inexplicable meandering 'art'. Be very suspicious of 'officialy sanctioned' films, especially those that miss out key figures, white wash others and look like they were thrown together.

I have read a couple Bios of Nirvana and found this doc to be fairly simplistic. Still I enjoyed seeing the unseen footage and cartoon montages. What I was really hoping for was a bit more focus of Kurt when he lived in Evergreen and was dating Toby Vail(would have liked to of seen her in the doc). The experience he had during that time is what inspired him to write many if not all of the songs from Nevermind. What the doc did include was well done. I also wish there was a few more people included in the doc. Dave Grohl, Chad Channing, Toby Vail, to name a few. Still A must watch for any Nirvana/Kurt Cobain fan. The story of Kurt Cobain is a frustrating one his personality mixed with his addictions was what ultimately led to his downfall. I really wish he would have sucked it up and stuck around a bit. I will admit the Doc did a good job capturing just how sensitive and awkward he was before during and after his fame.

I was hoping for this film to be great. As a Nirvana fan (most people who claim to like Nirvana have no idea what 'Incesticide' or even 'Bleach' is), I was looking forward to a thorough insight into this beloved figure who is still shrouded in a fog of misrepresentation and false hero worship. Unfortunately the film did not live up to expectations as it seemed the Director, "Brett Morgan" was more concerned in making the film aesthetically pleasing than emotionally interesting.

First off, a few positives about the film. 1. The way it portrays Courtney Love: She is despised by most music fans who believe she ruined Nirvana, but it's pretty clear that Kurt's self destruction was mostly his doing and his natural tendencies which add an appropriate sense of melancholy to the movie. 2. Some of the montages were nice when not excruciatingly overdone. 3. The music of course was good, it had a wide range from their b-sides (Dive), their first album (Mr. Moustache) and their popular stuff (Territorial Pissings) Including some fascinating covers of the Velvet Underground and the Beatles. 4. The story about Kurt and the "Retarded Girl" was absolutely fascinating.

However, the pacing of the film is truly awful. The first hour trudges along after a promising start and becomes bogged down in the Director's own agenda to show off his style. By far the best scenes in the film is just raw footage of Kurt and Courtney living alone in their dingy apartments and hotel rooms.

The film is appropriately titled, as the film is almost solely montages that don't progress the story and just serve again to stroke the Director's ego. Another example is the overuse of EXTREMELY LOUD to absolute silence.

Also, the ending of the film is not only unsatisfying, but extremely clichéd. There are countless films that have the same end title card and it felt awfully lazy. This is also disappointing because we experience none of the emotional damage that Cobains death has, which would have been far more interesting than 5 minutes of repetitive montages.

What's sad is that this film claimed to be the definitive Cobain Doco, but it's so obvious that there is plenty more interesting video and audio recordings made by Cobain HIMSELF that were left out in order to make way for dead end animation montages and hyper editing. The film could have been just as emotionally effective with 20 minutes cut from it.

However, I am still at least glad I saw the film, all the less wanky stuff was honestly well directed and Cobain's home video footage is nothing short of riveting and sometimes becomes really funny and beautiful.

So I give this film a 6. At the end of the day, I feel it would have been far more interesting just to sort through 3 hours of Cobain's home recordings than to watch a Director trying to steal the limelight from his charismatic subjects.

Some will complain that the documentary doesn't focus enough on Nirvana, and there's a very good reason for that. It's not a documentary about Nirvana; the film is intended to provide a more intimate look at Kurt Cobain as a person and provide insight into his more private and guarded moments. In that respect it is pretty successful. Nirvana's history is very well publicised, and the film assumes it's viewers are already fans that know a lot about the band (Why else would you watch a movie about the band's frontman?)

The films biggest selling point is that for the first time a director had the full cooperation of Cobain's family and access to the archive of materials he left behind, much of it had never been seen by the public eye before. These include home movies dating back to him as baby, behind the scene footage, and audio recordings. There is also going to be a companion book dedicated to never before seen photos and other materials that were unearthed. Unfortunately, it's not as exciting as it sounds. There may have been information I had never heard before, but none of it was surprising or profound. It all falls in line with what you would expect if you knew anything about Kurt going in. (I'm sure some people will disagree and say they found it shocking, but I didn't.) That being said the archival materials were well utilized and had a good presentation that fit into the story that was being told. It was nice to see them even if it was an over- hyped aspect of the movie.

From a technical standpoint the film really is a marvel. The animated transitions were a great way to incorporate the drawings and doodles that littered Kurt's notebooks. There are also scenes featuring puppetry and stop motion that are also inspired by his art and/or song lyrics. These are all really cool and actually provide more insight to his artistic style and writing process than you would think.

Additionally, several segments are entirely animated, and they look beautiful. Doing this is much more captivating than just just showing people talk about events or have a voice-over with a slideshow of pictures. It was a very good choice, and adds a lot to the viewing experience.

The film's soundtrack features live Nirvana recordings, covers and remixes, as well as music by other artist that fit the scenes, such as the Buddy Holly song that plays over his parents home movies from the '60s. This is well executed and I particularly love the violin rendition of "Smell Like Teen Spirit" that was used to mimic an orchestral score in the longest animated sequence.

Overall the film is an energetic and seemingly honest look at Kurt Cobain and the man he was. It was well made, entertaining, and a worthwhile documentary that stands head and shoulders above any other documentaries about him.

It's been more than 20 years since the death of Kurt Cobain, and while there have been numerous documentaries, books, and television programs devoted to telling his story, it's difficult to point to any one account as being the definitive portrait of the Nirvana frontman. But Brett Morgen's fascinating film Cobain: Montage of Heck is more than worthy of that title.

Chronicling Cobain's life and career through never-before-seen home videos, sketches, audio recordings and diary entries, Montage of Heck provides an unprecedented look into the mind of one of rock music's most iconic figures. This is the first film to have the full support and cooperation of Cobain's family, and the wealth of material resulting from this partnership is staggering.

Most of the journal entries featured in the film have been animated and set to music, providing a unique and frenetic energy that seems to distract the audience from the fact that they're being forced to read in order to keep up with the narrative. Sometimes they're nothing more than a few short words, other times they're entire pages of ideas and song lyrics and scribbles, but they all showcase a mind that functioned with the same sort of reckless abandon with which Cobain played music.

But the animation isn't just limited to the words on the pages of Cobain's many journals. Indeed, there are several fully-animated sequences that are combined with recordings of Cobain recounting anecdotes from various periods in his life. These scenes, from animators Hisko Hulsing and Stefan Nadelman, have an almost dreamlike quality, and breathe an incredible amount of life into Cobain's own narration.

Montage of Heck is also peppered with interviews, with frequent quotes from Cobain's parents, his first serious girlfriend, former bandmate Krist Novoselic, and even his widow, Courtney Love (conspicuously absent is Foo Fighters frontman Dave Grohl, who served as the band's drummer for the bulk of their short career). Once again, the cooperation of these individuals provides tremendous insight into the series of events that led Cobain into his downward spiral.

But the most emotional material, and certainly the most difficult to watch, is a lengthy segment during the film's second hour devoted to home video footage of Cobain and his wife. We see them holed up in their apartment during a heroin-fueled binge, with frequent cuts to news headlines about their drug problems, and Cobain's angry handwritten retorts. We see them at home after the birth of their daughter, Frances Bean Cobain, taking baths together and cracking jokes, obviously in love despite the undeniable toxicity of their relationship.

Far from the sort of talking head style that is so common with other music documentaries, Montage of Heck instead offers the most intimate look at Cobain that we've ever seen. From the casual listener to the hardcore fan, every viewer can expect to learn something about Cobain that they didn't know before, leaving with even more appreciation for his art, and more sorrow over his tragic self-destruction.