November 23, 2015 -- This very creative HBO documentary film by Brett Morgen (“The Kid Stays in the Picture”) about the rise and fall of noted musician Kurt Cobain uses home movie, audio, art and journals provided by the Cobain family, as well as a number of animated sequences to give viewers a sense of what made him tick.

The story that emerges is that of a very sad child who was so difficult to handle because of his hyperactivity and rebellion that he was shuffled from mother to father to grandparents, back and forth. He carried the anger from this rejection with him the rest of his life. This also made him extremely sensitive to criticism. The film indicates Cobain tried to kill himself when he was still a teenager in Aberdeen, Washington, so it comes as no surprise he succeeded just a few years later. Cobain was reportedly said to have suffered from attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder as a child.

Some of the early file footage in the movie is a bit misleading because it shows scenes from the 1950s. Cobain was born in 1967, which is far different from 1957. I know. I, too, was born in a timber industry town in the Pacific Northwest, even more culturally limited than Aberdeen, and I grew up in the 1950s and 1960s as an outsider. One difference between those two time frames is that Cobain was in high school at a time when drug use skyrocketed. He used marijuana as a way to ease his emotional pain.

Of course the story of a self-destructive rock star hooked on heroin is not unusual. What makes Cobain's case different was that he was introduced to drugs as a child, when he was prescribed methylphenidate (trade name Ritalin) by a doctor. In the film, his mother said Cobain “went off the rails” when he took Ritalin pills. Cobain also suffered intense pain from an undiagnosed stomach ailment during his adult years. He also had chronic bronchitis. His physical and emotional pain led to years of self-medication with a lot of drugs.

Cobain was in full teenage rebellion mode during the years Ronald Reagan was the U.S. President. He became firmly established as a counter-culture figure when he became a punk rocker. He became a leading figure in the grunge rock movement in Seattle. His band, Nirvana, with Cobain as songwriter, lead singer and lead guitarist, sold 75 million albums worldwide and the band was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame immediately upon eligibility.

Cobain's famous marriage to Courtney Love is also detailed in the movie through more home movies and interviews with Love herself. She says that Cobain was extremely upset with magazine articles published about the couple and their child, Frances, the object of a legal custody battle.

Cobain wanted fame and fortune and a family. He got all three, but just when he should have been getting happier in his life, he went deeper into decline. According to the film there are indications that Cobain may not have been able to adjust to happiness very well. He felt that the wellspring of his creativity was his anger. He feared that if he lost his anger, his musical creativity would suffer.

Of all Cobain's angry lyrics, his angry artwork (some disturbing artwork is on display in the movie) and his self-destructive behavior, this inability to handle happiness is the most disturbing thing in the movie. This situation could be due to bipolar disorder, which he reportedly suffered from.

There have been a number of other noted artists and entertainers whose inspiration is rooted in anger, and generally they tend to die young, either from suicide or drug abuse. There are exceptions, of course, but Cobain does fit the general pattern of burning out at an early age. He was only 27 when he died.

There is quite a bit of Nirvana's music on the soundtrack, including some stage performances. Cobain even sings one Beatles song. Only one of Cobain's songs was familiar to me, and I heard the famous guitar hook from “Come As You Are” for the first time while watching this movie. I am not a fan of punk rock. I had never heard of Kurt Cobain before he died.

I can see why they make movies about Kurt Cobain. He is a fascinating character. This movie closely follows Cobain's own tortured personal path of pain, anger and tragedy, and this is not a pleasant experience. I kept checking to see how much of this movie was left and how much more of this I was going to have to endure (it runs two hours and 25 minutes). This film is probably better suited to fans of Cobain and his music. This film rates a B.

The Internet Movie Database gives this film a different title (omitting Cobain's first name, Kurt, from the title) than the Internet streaming copy of the film I saw. It is also listed as “Kurt Cobain: Montage of Heck” at the HBO web site, so that is how I'm listing it on my web site.

Click here for links to places to buy or rent this movie in digital formats, or to buy the soundtrack, posters, books, even used videos, games, electronics and lots of other stuff. I suggest you shop at least two of these places before buying anything. Prices seem to vary continuously. For more information on this film, click on this link to The Internet Movie Database. Type in the name of the movie in the search box and press enter. You will be able to find background information on the film, the actors, and links to much more information.

Copyright © 2015 Robert Roten. All rights reserved.
Reproduced with the permission of the copyright holder.

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