Its now my duty to completely drain you. You expected to hearNirvana songs playing over the MARC Theaters P.A. system before the world premiere of Kurt Cobain: Montage of Heck. But when that line from Neverminds Drain You came on a few minutes before the lights dimmed, you wouldnt have guessed just how prophetic the sentiment was. A multimedia mix of the singer-songwriters home movies, journal entries, drawings, notebook scrawlings and audio recordings (buffered, naturally, by vintage interview excerpts and concert clips), Brett Morgens documentary is more than just a must-see for Nirvana fans. Its an eight-years-in-the-making collective labor of love that offers a private peek into the artists mind, from the first creative stirrings to the spiral downward. And by the time you get to the final shot of Kurt thanking the audience at the bands MTV Unplugged show, you dont just feel as if youve gotten to know the man better. Youre left completely emotionally spent.
I just wanted to give Frances a few more hours with her dad, Morgen said during his long introduction. She was in the audience, as was Kurts mom, his sister Kim, Krist Novoselic and Courtney Love, who was thanked profusely by the director for her trust. I dare you to find someone else whod hand you the keys to their storage facility, he cracked, and say Go through all my shit, make a fucking movie and Ill see it when its done.' To say that Morgen got unfettered access to the frontmans personal belongings would be putting it mildly. Theres Super 8 footage of Kurt as a towheaded toddler, banging away on a toy piano and blowing out candles on a birthday cake. There are snapshots of him as a sullen teen, with Kurts voiceover describing how discovering pot and punk helped him cope with a profound sense of alienation. Ever wanted to see his birth certificate, or hear Cobains taped conversation with Melvins singer Buzz Osborne about how shitty Aberdeen is? Its in here, as are glimpses of endless notebooks filled with artwork, prospective band names (The Reaganites, Hare Lip), and embryonic versions of what would become iconic songs.
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Testimonials from his family members, ex-girlfriend Tracy Marander, Novoselic and Love help bridge the gaps between flipping through the pages and sifting through the Kurtaphenalia. (Dave Grohl is conspicuously absent, which Morgen explained in the postscreening Q&A: He only interviewed the Foo Fighter three weeks ago, after hed locked the film down. Theres a chance hell edit the footage in some time in the future, the director said.) But any Rock Documentary 101 concessions pretty much stop there. Montage of Heck takes its title from one of the mix tapes Cobain would fill with miscellaneous voices, noise, taped snippets and the occasional demo, and Morgen borrows that odds-and-ends format in order to get at something much more personal. Key parts of the Nirvana mythology, from Kurt finding inspiration in Kathleen Hannas graffiti to when/how Grohl joined the band, are AWOL. David Geffens phone number is briefly glimpsed on a notepad. Even theSmells Like Teen Spirit video is overlaid with a version of the song sung by a childrens choir.
Instead, we get the unfiltered Kurt experience, all disturbing sketches, poems in progress and aspirational lists. We also get a disjointed, disorienting look at fame through his eyes, seen as a jumble of shows, news reports and vapid TV interrogations that all bleed together. And we get an uncomfortably intimate look at his life with Courtney, including self-shot close-ups of the couple making out, bitching about their treatment in the press and a pregnant Love showing off her breasts. This is a couple drunk on love, and per the glossy-to-tabloid reports that Morgen sprinkles in, often high on drugs. But its that first part that really comes across, especially when Frances Bean Cobain enters the picture. Frances told me that, People act like my dad was Santa Claus,' Morgen said after the screening. And he wasnt Santa Claus. I think she realized that after seeing the movie. Kurt was a doting dad, even when outside pressures put him on edge or his health problems zonked him out. His love for his child was always public knowledge, but witnessing him rolling around on the floor with her as she cracks up drives the point home. This is not a spokesman for a generation. This is a human being, and a husband, and a father.
Which just makes it that much more heartbreaking to watch Kurt unravel via violent voicemails and pages of his notebook that attest to a cry for help one entry is simply the phrase Go kill yourself repeated over and over. The most haunting moment comes when Rolling StonesDavid Fricke can be heard over the soundtrack asking Cobain about theIn Utero outtake I Hate Myself and Want to Die: Either youre being really satirical, or youre going to a real dark place here. Kurts response is a laugh thats positively chilling.
But as the director himself said when questioned about why he didnt go into Kurts passing, I didnt want to make a celebration of deathI wanted to make a celebration of life. Anyone could have crafted a documentary about a band. Morgens experimental, road-less-traveled approach does something thats much deeper: letting you feel as if youve pored through someones scrapbook. You get the sense that Kurt would have liked this. As for his fans, be prepared to meet the man you admire, warts and all.
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