Kurt Cobain About a Son

Kurt Cobain, lead singer of Nirvana before his untimely death, is often credited by music experts as being one of the most influential musicians of his time. A claim that careful analysis demonstrates to have much credence. Yet he seemed an unremarkable individual. Physical and mental illness. Dropping out of high school. Habitual drug-user. Where did he find the insights that made him such an inspiration to other artists? Making a famous rock-star biopic must be a temptation to fill it with crowd-pleasing footage of their songs. Then link it with candid shots to show the 'real' person. Thankfully, Schnack has steered an alternative course with great integrity in his pursuit for truth. He has looked at how the formative years made the man. The result is not a pat answer underlined with some snappy lyrics. It is a convincing and inspiring portrait of a man who was not easy to know.

Twenty five hours of unreleased interviews provide a voice-over for the film. We focus on the period from childhood to when Nirvana attain recognition. These formative years, together with Cobain's own words, give us a feeling for how his music developed. More importantly, they show the pressures on his character. In almost a crucible of personal hell (in spite of the bravado in what he says), Kurt Cobain forged a telling sincerity of expression. That expression of someone who has little choice.

Cobain acknowledges many influences, including Led Zepplin, Kiss, AC/DC and the Cars, as well as more obscure bands. But his key experiment was based on mixing seemingly irreconcilable genres. "How successful do you think a band could be if they mixed really heavy Black Sabbath with the Beatles?" he asks.

Some bands had approached elements of this already. Zepplin used strident contrasting sections: gentle harmonies would alternate with heavy metal sections. Nirvana invoked not just musical contrasts but extreme disparities of mood and lyrics. Many of their songs flip in a split second from gentle, sensitive, caring sing-along-with-your-mum words - to an extreme violence of sound and imagery. "Come as you are, as a friend," takes on a horrific edge in subsequent verses. The shock value has been duplicated since (usually in a less extreme way) in the structure of music and lyrics by many rock bands, and even seems to filter down to pop groups such as Rihanna and Morningwood.

We could equally wonder if it was just part of a general music drift. But the film's insights help even an untrained ear to analyse the trends and Nirvana's role in them.

Cobain's life gave him plenty to draw on. Isolated, homeless (in the middle of winter), suffering from ADD and later manic-depression, in his dark night of the soul we can see that his love of music was his only interest. Living in a backwater of Seattle, the only possessions he valued were his artistic nature and the guitar that offered a possibility of expression.

There is nothing manufactured about the sound of Nirvana. Its heartfelt honesty perhaps helped to propel the group to wider audiences at a time when indie bands were being methodically sidelined by an avaricious industry. In reaching a wider public, Nirvana also helped to show it was still possible for an unknown band to break through the seemingly invincible wall that dictated what was acceptable.

The film's cinematography, still and moving images of the places and sorts of people that populated Cobain's early life, cleverly and almost imperceptibly adds flesh to the raw bones. The bleak Aberdeen backwater. Sleeping under bridges. Spending time in libraries to keep warm. Eventually meeting middle-class youngsters who populate an unsettlingly different world. All through this, the idea for him of simply making enough money to survive was "awesome." Cobain is maybe an extreme example of the double-edged angst felt by many young people. "I was such a nihilistic jerk half the time," he says. "I'm so f*cking sarcastic at times then at other times I'm so vulnerable and so sincere, and that's pretty much how every song comes out - it's a mixture of both of them and that's pretty much how most people my age are – they're sarcastic one minute then caring the next." Since the nihilism pervades all of the interviews except where he speaks of music, it is reasonable to believe, against his claims, that he didn't change much. "I'm p*ssed off about everything in general and so all these songs are pretty much about my battle with things that p*ss me off."

The words are inelegant and he (technically) contradicts himself on occasion. But the general sense comes through. It is one of the special gifts of cinema to be able to show the bigger picture by putting words in different settings, juxtaposing them with images, to give meanings that could otherwise be missed.

Perhaps Cobain is at his most articulate when talking about privacy and the intrusion of the paparazzi. If people believe they have a 'right' to know everything about a celebrity's life, "Then I have a right to try and change that view," he says.

Cobain was a tragic character who found happiness in so little and yet affected his artistic field greatly. Schnack's portrait will not satisfy fans that want a pop video of Nirvana songs. It doesn't feature a single one (even though it will increase subsequent enjoyment and appreciation of their music.) Neither will it satisfy the gore-hounds who want to endlessly debate whether his death was suicide or not. Yet somewhere in the misery of Cobain's life was born a spark of creative fire that was far more important. It is hard to imagine how this film could have been less commercial or more true to the quest for that flame.

I thought this was an excellent little piece, and this is some of the most honest portrayal of Kurt Cobain you'll ever hear on audio tapes of actual interviews conducted a year before his death. This is not your average documentary and you will not see any clips of Nirvana or really even any pictures or footage of Kurt at all except for a grand total of maybe 2 minutes of short footage of some photographs taken from a few live performances and a few photo shoots. Besides that it is nothing but locations relevant to his life in Washington, mainly Aberdeen, Olympia and Seattle, the main places he's lived in in the 3 main periods of his life.

I found this utterly fascinating and personally I loved the footage of city streets, random everyday people from those cities that Kurt spent his life in, gorgeous views of vistas, cityscapes and other such eye candy to free your mind and let Kurt do all the talking. It never once gets boring despite a great deal of the footage being nothing interesting at all, some parts showing a part of Washington state that is dull, lifeless and depressing, but ultimately it all shows insight into why Kurt became the person he became and gives you images to go with the subjects Kurt is speaking of. I really cannot agree with the negative reviews of this film and I loved it. I am a huge Nirvana fan and I find Kurt Cobain utterly fascinating granted, but I am not a biased fan at all. This is a very very honest portrayal of Kurt Cobain. You might not even like him much when the movie is over. He can be quite depressing and a tragic figure to listen to, but one thing is for sure, he always had something interesting to say and never sugarcoated anything and always spoke from the heart. This is a true look at the real Kurt Cobain in his own words and for that, I commend it highly. My only complaint is that I wish it could have been a bit longer and I wish that there could have been a more complete in-depth analysis of his life as a lot of things were skipped over.

A quiet, slow, but haunting meditation on the late rock hero may be an acquired taste for pre-existing fans, but ultimately ends up being a haunting character study regardless. Why this documentary really sticks out is in it's approach. Guided merely by audio clips of one of Cobain's last, and most in-depth interviews, the director shows long and lingering images of his surroundings while we listen to the troubled, quite misperceived star vent his frustrations with celebrity and recall his modest upbringings.

While slightly overlong with silent pauses in between statements, About A Boy is unique, intimate, and ultimately extremely satisfying in distilling some of the myths surrounding this icon and helping to re-humanize him again by giving us the visual counterparts to Cobain's world, without the hype.

I enjoyed these recording of Kurt very much. It gives you a real understanding of how misunderstood Kurt was but also what made him so special. This film goes into Kurts views and how he felt from an out of place kid from Aberdeen to an Iconic rock star that never really wanted to be in the spotlight. A must see or maybe even just listen for any Nirvana fan....Kurt was the definition of " The man who sold the world"

It's so delightfully refreshing watching these types of "documentary" films. The film is not like many others I have seen as it is highly original and experimental. There is nothing to spoil in this piece really. It's just a really relaxing experience throughout.

It sounds a long time of just simply listening to audiotapes of Kurt Cobain - and it actually is. I disagree when I hear that only people who like Nirvana/Kurt Cobain would enjoy and appreciate the film. For people who really appreciate film language, it is a film to watch too. I have seen it twice now and it does amaze me that I don't get bored. The mild soundtrack in the background along with pictures and video clips makes it a journey while you listen. Basically all of the clips you see are merged together with what he is saying to give a sense of atmosphere and relevance. ( There is no clips of Kurt Cobain or Nirvana. Nor is there any songs. The only small clips of Kurt are at the very end) Without spoiling (even if that's not really possible), there is one particular clip where there is a man walking in the background which is supposed to be Kurt. Therefore it's also a documentary you need to pay attention to, just like any other film.

But if you actually are interested to see this piece because you are a Kurt Cobain fan, you really should have a look. It's probably the film which made me really assured that Kurt Cobain was a true role model. You can read as much about him as you want, but the interviews which this film provides is truly excellent.

It will definitely not suit everyone, but for me it is one of the best crafted documentaries I have ever seen.