Kurt Cobain: Montage Of Heck

This is the long awaited film about the life of an icon Kurt Cobain. He was a person that became a figurehead for rage, disenfranchisement and isolation. This documentary focuses on his world as he saw it and as he expressed it. Through paintings, poems, scribbles and songs, we live inside the head of a unique and insulated voice. Born in a time of prosperity and optimism in America, as he grew up and changed so did everything else. The world around him grew darker and bitter, so he looked for a way to express his rage. Nirvana was born and brilliance was in bloom.

I was a Nirvana fan when I was a younger person. I loved Nirvanas raw and explosive energy and how it reflected my own personal rage. Now a lot older and a little bit wiser, it was time to revisit the works of a band and an individual that shaped a generation. Nostalgia was a part of the visit, as was the hope of hearing some of those vigorous tracks. It also struck me that Cobain had another side and I wanted to see this.I wanted to see what has been kept away from us for so long and so harshly for capital gain. Documentary can sometimes bring about something inside you. It is occasionally that it construct’s new memories and other times revives old memories.

So to start I have to point to the producer being Cobain's own daughter and this has stuck a little in my throat. When Nick Broomfield made his excellent documentary on the subject, he was challenged and forced around. Here we have all the heads talking and doing so with gusto. The consistent positive genius image is a little wearing. Also the heads really say very little about the man and his work. What they do say is middle road words of recognition. I know he was a massive icon but what the hell was he thinking and why should I give a rats ass? He was a human was he not after all. This almost made me angry and smash the screen in. Then the momentum changed and the credit is with Brett Morgen who opened the door to the reality...

The reality is that the film is a superb work of creative energy and passion. It shows the abundant energy that Cobain and Nirvana had. Music, art and vision has been intertwined with vocals and visuals that are stock but priceless. They can be said to be tablets, like some ancient text in to the mind of a philosopher. Opening at once a world of electric cognitive dances in the mind of Cobain. Even his persona is captured with a few well balanced scenes of recorded events. These re-enactments are surreal and dreamlike but add to the magic of the words and events.
He had a kinetic talent and this is subtly expressed with amazing animations and comic strips (all his own works). Often creative minds exist in a place that is hard to comprehend and even more so to reveal but Morgen has done this with great skill. This should not be sneered at, as this for me was the hardest part of any work. Convey the person from the propaganda.