The movie industry is fascinated with Kurt Cobain. The Nirvana frontman, who committed suicide in 1994, has been the subject of countless documentaries over the years, including Nick Broomfield's controversial Kurt & Courtney, which investigated claims that Cobain may have been murdered. Cobain: Montage of Heck was the latest film to explore the singer's life and the first to made with the cooperation of his family and widow. Directed by The Kid Stays in the Picture's Brett Morgen, the film premiered at Sundance in January and premiered in the US on HBO in May, after a limited worldwide theatrical run. Montage of Heck is less an exploration of Cobain's rise to the top of the music industry than it is a portrait of a mind in flux, unable to cope with the pressures of being the biggest musician on the planet. Nowhere is this clearer than in the regular animated sequences, based on Cobain's own drawings and writing, that paint the picture of a man conflicted over wanting to share his art with the world, but resenting the spectacle of showbusiness. Morgen's film is a little over-indulgent and runs way too long, but it does delve deeply into the complex persona of its flawed subject. For Cobain, fame was an unfortunate side effect of his desire to express himself and it ultimately drew him into a world of drugs and darkness.
Freelance film journalist and fan of professional wrestling. Usually found in a darkened screening room looking for an aisle seat and telling people to put away their mobile phones. Also known to do a bit of stand-up comedy, so I'm used to the occasional heckle.
