Kurt Cobain: About a Son
DVD Review

On February 19, (a day before the birth of the subject) the movie Kurt Cobain: About a Son was released on DVD. Created by director AJ Schnack and writer Michael Azerrad, About a Son is a collection of twenty-five hours of audio interviews with Cobain conducted by Azerrad for the book Come As You Are: the Story of Nirvana. The movie was released on a limited screening across the country and generated positive reviews throughout the film community.

What lies at the center of the film is its paradoxes and its moving moments. Much like 2 Pac - Resurrection, the film takes the words of the artist himself and lays it over music and visceral imagery. It also provides us with the thoughts of the subject, a refreshing change from a lot of movies about rock stars. About A Son is able to do this in an incredibly intense way by providing film of places Cobain grew up, lived and died while showcasing the music that influenced him, such as The Melvins, Scratch Acid, David Bowie and Queen. There are many moments throughout the film that feel like eerie and sad prophecies.

Quite possibly the worst thing you could experience is getting what you want and finding out it isn’t worth it. This thought flows through the movie, and it paints a picture of Cobain that lends some insight yet leaves more questions than before. In the beginning of the film, Cobain speaks of wanting to reach the masses with his work; to be able to tour, release records and generally make his living as a musician. These are the main reason anyone would want to be a rock star, and it is endearing to hear his early ambitions. Later on though, his tone becomes more cynical, with Cobain reminiscing that the best time in Nirvana was when they were on the cusp of being famous; after that, the thrill of performing and recording was gone. It is truly disheartening to get what you want and then find out what you thought you wanted sucks.

The movie begins with scenes from Aberdeen, Washington, Cobain’s birthplace. He speaks of having an idyllic childhood, thinking that the world was no bigger than his backyard. That idea changed with his parent’s divorce, turning him into more of an outcast, and leaving him remarking on his parent’s generation as being “the last innocent generation.” He tells stories about the music he loved, stories about his mother, stories about his friends and band mates. The mood is depressive, angry and blissful, which is how he later described his music.

It was the underground days that showcased a different person than the one we later saw; Cobain’s stories illustrate an artist with a hunger for the craft of songwriting and a desire to express himself. Later on, when the band got famous, the mood changed, and that era was defined by his negative and bitter feelings toward the press and their incessant coverage of him, his wife and child. His views about the media are quite striking. The comments he made regarding the intrusion into private lives and how celebrities are covered almost mirror quotes made by many paparrazzi-stalked celebrities today. It then becomes the story of a man who had a lot of insecurities and had an extremely difficult time with the intense glare of the bright lights.

Cobain’s drug use is, of course, mentioned and those segments encapsulate the real sadness of the film. He spoke at times in double speak about how he took drugs to quell physical pain, but steadfastly did not advocate that being a legitimate reason to use. Near the end of the movie, he speaks of his sobriety, crediting his newborn daughter as his inspiration to get and stay clean. Statements like these are heartrending to hear as we know he will deny himself the pleasure of watching her grow up.

Artistic and moody shots tie the interviews together. The usual standards of plot movement are employed, with shots of rolling water for the sadder points and shadows and almost ghostly images to symbolize the death of the subject. The most moving images, however, are of faces of people in the towns where Cobain lived. None of the people are in any way associated with him, but the tight, intense shots of normal humans create a background for Cobain’s statements. The representation humanizes him; this is an especially necessary decision when one considers the canonizing of deceased icons in our culture. The movie was a work of love by the creators: an effort to show that Cobain was, at times, confused, happy, angry, bitter, regretful, passionate and, most of all, imperfect. The ending of the film fades, much like life, but it leaves the viewer taken; you get sucked into Cobain's heart and mind and then his suicide shocks anew. While this may be sad, it is also the highest possible compliment one could give to the filmmakers.

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