Kurt Cobain: Montage of Heck

Kurt Cobain: Montage of Heck

Theatrical release poster
Directed by Brett Morgen
Produced by
  • Brett Morgen
  • Danielle Renfrew Behrens
Written by Brett Morgen
Music by
Edited by
  • Joe Beshenkovsky
  • Brett Morgen
Production
company
Distributed by
Release dates
  • January 24, 2015 (2015-01-24) (Sundance)
  • April 24, 2015 (2015-04-24)
Running time
 145 minutes
Country United States
Language English

Kurt Cobain: Montage of Heck, also billed as Cobain: Montage of Heck,[1] is a documentary film about Nirvana front man and '90s rock icon Kurt Cobain, which premiered at the 2015 Sundance Film Festival. It has received a limited theatrical release worldwide and premiered on television in the United States on HBO on April 24, 2015. The film was directed by Brett Morgen. It chronicles the life of Kurt Cobain from his birth in Aberdeen, Washington in 1967, through his troubled early family life and teenage years and rise to fame as front man of Nirvana, up to his death in April 1994 in Seattle aged 27. The film includes artwork by Cobain as well as music and sound collages composed by him. Much of music and sound collages were released on the film's soundtrack, Montage of Heck: The Home Recordings. A companion book was also released containing animation stills from the film as well as transcripts of interviews, photographs, and Cobain's artwork that were not featured in the film.

Plot

After Kurt Cobain is born in 1967, his parents move to Aberdeen, Washington and shortly after his sister Kim is born. Kurt lives a normal childhood, although his father Don would pick on him. At the age of nine, his parents are divorced. He lives with Don for a while until Don marries Jenny Westeby and they have kids together. He moves back in with his mom and as a teenager he becomes unruly and starts smoking pot with friends. He and his friends start to visit the home of a developmentally challenged high school classmate to steal her father's alcohol. It becomes a hard time for Cobain, who considers suicide for the first time. After he attempts to have sex with the girl, his classmates begin insulting and shaming him. Cobain, unable to take the ridicule, lays down on train tracks with the intention of ending his life, but the train travels on a different railway.

After becoming homeless and living with friends, he eventually gets his own place at 17 and starts a band with Krist Novoselic. Chad Channing eventually joins the band on drums and they choose the band name to be "Nirvana". Nirvana's first "shows" consists of playing for a few friends and random passersby at local house parties. They eventually start playing at clubs and radio stations and Kurt starts dating Tracy Marander. The band signs onto Sub Pop record company and they release their first album "Bleach". The band starts to have interviews and doing tours. After a short while, Kurt breaks up with Tracy, Chad leaves the band, and Nirvana leaves the label to sign onto DGC Records and Dave Grohl becomes the new drummer.

After recording their next album "Nevermind" their song "Smells Like Teen Spirit" becomes a hit and the band is launched into the mainstream. Kurt meets Courtney Love and they start dating. In 1992, they get married after they find out she is pregnant but at the same time Kurt gets into the drug heroin. In an interview with Vanity Fair, Courtney mentions Kurt's heroin habit and that Courtney tried it as well, Lynn Hirschberg the journalist for the magazine writes that Courtney used the drug while pregnant, misquoting her. Shortly after Frances is born but they are confronted by The Los Angeles County Department of Children's Services who take the Cobains to court, claiming that the couple's drug usage makes them unfit parents. Due to the claims made in the Vanity Fair article, Seattle child-welfare agents remove the couple's baby daughter for around four weeks. The couple eventually obtain custody in an exchange for agreeing to provide urine tests and receive regular visits from a social worker. After months of legal negotiations, the couple are eventually granted full custody of their daughter.

Kurt's heroin use continues as the band records their new album "In Utero" in 1993. Pat Smear joins the band and they start doing arena tours. and Cobain starts to turn pale while suffering withdrawal. Not long after returning home, Cobain's heroin use resumes. The band goes on to do an MTV Unplugged performance and they continue touring again in early 1994. After being diagnosed with bronchitis and severe laryngitis. He flies to Rome the next day for medical treatment, and is joined there by Courtney, on March 3, 1994. The next morning, Love awakes to find that Cobain has overdosed on a combination of champagne and Rohypnol. Cobain is immediately rushed to the hospital, and spends the rest of the day unconscious. After five days in the hospital, Cobain is released and returns to Seattle.

The screen cuts to black and a text appears stating "One month after returning from Rome, Kurt Cobain took his own life. He was 27 years old" before the credits start to play.

Production

The documentary is directed by Brett Morgen who began work on it in 2007 when Cobain's widow, Courtney Love, approached him with the idea.[2] It is the first documentary about Kurt Cobain to be made with the cooperation of his family.[2] Morgen and his team were given access to the entirety of Cobain's personal and family archives.[3] The documentary includes footage from various Nirvana performances and unheard songs, as well as unreleased home movies, recordings, artwork, photography, journals, demos, and songbooks.[3] Morgen used the interviews in the film Lenny as a model for the interviews in the film.[4] The film's title, Montage of Heck, takes its name from a musical collage that was created by Cobain with a 4-track cassette recorder in about 1988, of which there are two versions; one is about thirty-six minutes long and the other about eight minutes long.[3] Several of the film's scenes were animated by Stefan Nadelman and Hisko Hulsing.[5] Jeff Danna wrote an original score for the film.[6] The film was co-produced by HBO Documentary Films and Universal Pictures International Entertainment Content Group.[7] Cobain and Courtney Love's only daughter, Frances Bean Cobain, was a co-executive producer on the film.[8]

Release

The film premiered at the Sundance Film Festival on January 24, 2015[9] and was subsequently shown at the 65th Berlin International Film Festival on February 8, 2015.[10] The film received a limited theatrical release in the United Kingdom on April 10, 2015.[1] In the United States, Universal Studios distributed the film for a limited theatrical release on April 24, 2015,[11] where it was shown in just three theaters: the Cinerama Dome at Arclight Hollywood, the SIFF Cinema Egyptian Theatre in Seattle, and the IFC Center in New York City.[12][13] The film premiered on television in the United States on HBO on May 4, 2015, and was released on DVD and Blu-ray in North America on November 13, 2015.[14]

Reception

Sales

The film grossed $107,055 during the first two days of its limited theatrical release in the United States.[13] In the United Kingdom, where it was released on home video on April 27, 2015, the film topped the Official Charts Company's UK Music Video Chart Top 50 for the week of May 3–9, 2015[15] and peaked at number six on the UK Blu-ray Chart Top 100,[16] number 13 on the UK DVD Chart Top 100,[17] and 11 on the UK Video Chart Top 100.[18]

Critical

The film was met with an overwhelming positive response from critics, many of whom noted that the humanized portrayal of Cobain distinguished the film from prior works on the same subject. On review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the film has a 98% approval rating, based on 54 reviews, with an average rating of 8.2/10.[19] At Metacritic, they assign a weighted average rating out of 100 to selected independent ratings and reviews from mainstream critics, and the film has received a Metascore of 84, based on 19 reviews, indicating "universal acclaim."[20]

David Fear of Rolling Stone described the film as "the unfiltered Kurt experience," noting that Cobain is shown "not [as] a spokesman for a generation," but as "a human being, and a husband, and a father."[21] Boyd van Hoeij of The Hollywood Reporter concluded that the film is "impressive in parts, but wildly uneven as a whole."[22] Consequence of Sound's Justin Gerber gave the film an "A" grade, writing that the film is "what can only be defined as the definitive Cobain documentary."[23] Katie Walsh of Indiewire described it as "a true achievement, both in documentary filmmaking, and in preserving the memory and legacy of Cobain."[24] Audrey Adler of NME wrote that the film is "the most holistic portrait of a rock icon ever created" and gave it a score of 9/10.[25] Chris Nashawaty of Entertainment Weekly wrote that the film is "a portrait that's at turns confessional, confused, and yes, even at times happy, that bring bring [sic] Cobain ... to life in a way that no other film or book has."[26] Dennis Harvey of Variety wrote that the film is "absorbing stuff, amply conveying the magnetism of a conflicted leader who drew fanatical adoration, yet who one suspects wasn't easy company."[5]

Buzz Osborne, close friend of Cobain, has called the film "mostly misguided fiction" and the animations "really cool".[27]

Soundtrack

Ahead of screenings of the film on both HBO and international cinema releases, director Brett Morgen stated in an interview online that an album will be released in the months following the film's release that will include home recordings.[28] Morgen said the album "will feel like you're kind of hanging out with Kurt Cobain on a hot summer day in Olympia, Washington as he fiddles about" but that "it's not a Nirvana album."[28] The album will feature at least one unreleased track.[29] Morgen stated that the album will be 85 minutes long.[30] Morgen also replied to a tweet question and answer, in which he said the soundtrack would include "Opinion demo was almost 11 minutes long. And that there were going to be two versions of "Sappy" on the ST... an instrumental & a slowed down take."[31] Per Deadline, Morgen confirmed that the soundtrack is going to be released the same day as the MoH DVD “It will come out November 6th, the same day as the DVD release.”[32]

Companion book

Along with the film, a companion book of the same name was released. It is co-authored by Richard Bienstock and Morgen, who contributed a foreword. The book contains animation stills from the film as well as transcripts of interviews, photographs, and Cobain's artwork that were not featured in the film. Two editions of the book were published. Insight Editions published the North American edition, which contains 160 pages (ISBN 978-1608875498).[33] Omnibus Press published the British edition, which contains 208 pages, under the name Kurt Cobain: A Montage of Heck (ISBN 978-1783059669).[34]

Video certifications

Region Certification Certified units/Sales
United Kingdom (BPI)[35] Gold 25,000^

^shipments figures based on certification alone

Accolades

It has been nominated for an Annie Award.[36]

References

  1. 1 2 De Semlyen, Phil (February 20, 2015). "Exclusive First Poster For Cobain: Montage Of Heck". Empire. Retrieved February 20, 2012.
  2. 1 2 Gallo, Phil (November 25, 2014). "Frances Bean Cobain-Produced Kurt Cobain Documentary to Debut on HBO in 2015". Billboard. Retrieved November 25, 2014.
  3. 1 2 3 Blistein, Jon (November 25, 2014). "Kurt Cobain Doc 'Montage of Heck' to Premiere on HBO in 2015". Rolling Stone. Retrieved February 7, 2015.
  4. ↑ Jackson, Josh (February 4, 2015). "Kurt Cobain: Montage of Heck — An Interview with Director Brett Morgen". Paste. Retrieved February 7, 2015.
  5. 1 2 Harvey, Dennis (February 2, 2015). "Sundance Film Review: 'Kurt Cobain: Montage of Heck'". Variety. Retrieved February 7, 2015.
  6. ↑ "Jeff Danna Scoring 'Kurt Cobain: Montage of Heck'". Film Music Reporter. February 5, 2015. Retrieved April 25, 2015.
  7. ↑ Dickson, Evan (January 23, 2015). "First Image From Official Kurt Cobain Documentary Cobain: Montage of Heck". Collider.com. Retrieved February 7, 2015.
  8. ↑ Goodman, Jessica (March 11, 2015). "Watch The Harrowing Trailer For 'Kurt Cobain: Montage Of Heck'". The Huffington Post. Retrieved March 12, 2015.
  9. ↑ Reilly, Phoebe (January 28, 2015). "Sundance 2015: Brett Morgen on Cobain, Courtney and 'Montage of Heck'". Rolling Stone. Retrieved February 7, 2015.
  10. ↑ Nienaber, Michael (February 8, 2015). "Kurt Cobain comes as he is in visceral documentary". Reuters. Retrieved February 25, 2015.
  11. ↑ Grebey, James (March 20, 2015). "Kurt Cobain Doc 'Montage of Heck' Will Get Limited Theatrical Release". Spin. Retrieved April 13, 2015.
  12. ↑ Bibbiani, William (February 3, 2015). "Sundance: Brett Morgen on 'Kurt Cobain: Montage of Heck'". CraveOnline. Retrieved February 7, 2015.
  13. 1 2 Brooks, Brian (April 26, 2015). "'Kurt Cobain: Montage of Heck' Rocks Specialty Box Office". Deadline.com. Retrieved April 27, 2015.
  14. ↑ "Kurt Cobain: Montage of Heck". Amazon.com. ASIN B00WFU3YFQ. Retrieved Dec 3, 2015.
  15. ↑ "Official Music Video Chart Top 50 for the week of 3 May 2015 to 9 May 2015". Official Charts Company. Retrieved May 6, 2015.
  16. ↑ "Official Blu-ray Chart Top 100 for the week of 3 May 2015 to 9 May 2015". Official Charts Company. Retrieved May 6, 2015.
  17. ↑ "Official UK DVD Chart Top 100 for the week of 3 May 2015 to 9 May 2015". Official Charts Company. Retrieved May 6, 2015.
  18. ↑ "Official UK Video Chart Top 100 for the week of 3 May 2015 to 9 May 2015". Official Charts Company. Retrieved May 6, 2015.
  19. ↑ "Kurt Cobain: Montage Of Heck". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved May 15, 2015.
  20. ↑ "Kurt Cobain: Montage of Heck Reviews". Metacritic. Retrieved May 10, 2015.
  21. ↑ Fear, David (January 15, 2015). "Sundance 2015: Intimate 'Kurt Cobain: Montage of Heck' Doc Stuns at Premiere". Rolling Stone. Retrieved February 27, 2015.
  22. ↑ Van Hoeij, Boyd (January 24, 2015). "'Kurt Cobain: Montage of Heck': Sundance Review". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved January 25, 2015.
  23. ↑ Gerber, Justin (January 26, 2015). "Sundance Film Review: Kurt Cobain - Montage of Heck". Consequence of Sound. Retrieved February 7, 2015.
  24. ↑ Walsh, Katie (January 27, 2015). "Sundance Review: 'Kurt Cobain: Montage Of Heck' Is An Entertaining And Moving Rock Star Portrait". Indiewire. Retrieved February 7, 2015.
  25. ↑ Adler, Audrey (January 27, 2015). "Kurt Cobain: Montage Of Heck - First Look Review". NME. Retrieved February 27, 2015.
  26. ↑ Nashawaty, Chris (January 30, 2015). "Sundance 2015: The 5 best films we saw". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved February 26, 2015.
  27. ↑ "Buzz Osborne (the Melvins) Talks the HBO Documentary Kurt Cobain: Montage of Heck". TheTalkhouse.com. June 6, 2015.
  28. 1 2 Maurer, Daniel (May 1, 2015). "Kurt Cobain Album Coming This Summer, Reveals Montage of Heck Director". Bedford and Bowery. Retrieved May 5, 2015.
  29. ↑ Vena, Jocelyn (March 10, 2015). "'Kurt Cobain: Montage of Heck' Soundtrack to Feature Unreleased Track". Billboard. Retrieved May 10, 2015.
  30. ↑ "An Interview With 'Montage of Heck' Director Brett Morgen". Pigeons & Planes. April 29, 2015. Retrieved May 5, 2015.
  31. ↑ http://livenirvana.com/forum/showpost.php?p=636621&postcount=386
  32. ↑ http://deadline.com/2015/08/brett-mo...ew-1201497521/
  33. ↑ "Kurt Cobain: Montage of Heck". Insight Editions. Retrieved May 6, 2015.
  34. ↑ "Kurt Cobain: A Montage of Heck". Amazon.com. Retrieved May 6, 2015.
  35. ↑ "British video certifications – Kurt Cobain – COBAIN — MONTAGE OF HECK". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved August 30, 2015. Enter COBAIN — MONTAGE OF HECK in the field Keywords. Select Title in the field Search by. Select DVD in the field By Format. Select Gold in the field By Award. Click Search
  36. ↑ http://annieawards.org/nominees/

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