What a beautiful movie!

A Major Disappointment

Story: It's very simple but honestly that is fine.

The best films of this genre always show a path and provide a takeaway for being a better person.

I found Montage of Heck to be a scatter-brained documentary that couldn't decide which direction to go. It grabs at various forms of media culled from Cobain's family, and tosses them into a blender, with splashes of interviews and band footage. There were some stunningly rotoscoped animation, using narration from Cobain, that briefly takes you through his dejected teenage years in Aberdeen, Washington. They also rendered the years Cobain spent living with his first girlfriend, Tracy Marander, who supported him when Nirvana started getting noticed. Marander isn't shown (only in interviews and rare photos), we just see how Kurt spent his days being creative while she was at work. Anyway, not long after, the band signed to Sub Pop and released Bleach. There were also drawings and writings (many would make Jack Kerouac's "spontaneous prose" seem lucid by comparison) from his sketchbooks / journals, that were brought to life using muted computer graphics. These were scattered throughout, and became laborious after about the 10th time. Still, the music that accompanied them were great. We get to hear plenty of unreleased material, and I even noticed some Nirvana covers, which felt redundant. Now, cue in Courtney Love. Sigh. It was annoying seeing her all dolled up by a makeup artist, chain-smoking and sounding incredibly untruthful about Kurt's last couple of months. I won't ruin it, but it's towards the end of the film and it made me more suspicious of her. The home videos of Kurt, Courtney, and Frances Bean were quite touching, although at times it got dark, especially some moments with just Kurt and Courtney (not 100% on who recorded them). You know he was the happiest he's ever been, but they were also plunging into the abyss of heroin and other drugs. Overall, Montage of Heck started off as a sweet concoction that ultimately left me with a bitter aftertaste. I hear that 'About a Son' is the superior documentary, so I'll watch that in hopes of getting a deeper insight into Kurt Cobain and Nirvana.

As polarizing and up and down as it's subject, Brett Morgen's unique and labour intensive documentary about Nirvana front-man Kurt Cobain is an experience that will offer highs and lows but is nonetheless a must watch for any long term fan of the musician as documentaries don't get much more intimate than this.Not professing to know much if anything about the life and times of Cobain and his incredible rise to fame, riches and eventual demise, Montage of Heck will not exactly allow the uninitiated to get an exact feel for what drove Cobain and made him tick but it gives us a look into his life like never before with Morgen's access to home video footage, diary entries and archival footage, allowing an impressively vast array of elements that combine together to try and pinpoint Cobain's thoughts and mental processes.Taking inspiration from the man himself, Morgen infuses his HBO backed documentary with an at times off putting erratic nature, the film flirting between visually strong animation, nightmare like diary writings and drawings flashing and coming to life in a psychedelic manner or intimate and previously private home video recordings and photos that offer the film's most telling insights into who exactly Cobain was and what he was like at his most uninhabited, which is nice as Cobain's notoriously cold and uninterested persona in the public makes it very easy for one to not feel care towards a man that seemed intent on walking a path of self-destruction.Cobain's unhelpful habits and characteristics are what holds Montage of Heck back (and a lack of affiliation of how Nirvana came together) and while we can all feel for someone suffering from inward personal issues, nothing is ever made overly apparent as to why Cobain set about a life that could only but lead to a lonely end, even after becoming a father and vowing to walk the line of sobriety and be the parent he so longed for when he was growing up. A tormented and deep thinking soul no doubt, but if there was ever a portrayal that showed Cobain up as not an overly affable human being, it's Montage of Heck.Cobain and Nirvana's influence on pop-culture and music still lives large today and for die hard long term fans and those with keen interest in the life and times of musical superstars, Montage of Heck will be a must watch. For the rest of us more casual music listeners and movie fans however, Morgen's effort is more a curiosity than and out and out must see due to its uneasy tone and tricky central figure.3 uninterested interviews out of 5

I generally like the music of Nirvana, but I don't consider myself a fan of the band. Nevertheless, it's impossible to deny the huge influence they had over the music and popular culture. In the early '90s, the "hair metal" had degenerated into an empty spectacle in which the make-up and the fixative spray were more important than music itself. So, Nirvana appeared as an alternative which changed the face of rock and popularized "grunge" movement, lacking of artifice and with a renewed emphasis on the value of music (even though, like any other movement, it eventually became a victim of the same over- merchandising which has suffocated an uncountable number of musical styles). However, like its title indicates, Cobain: Montage of Heck doesn't pretend to deal with the History of grunge and even less of Nirvana, but with the singer, guitarist and composer who became an icon of a generation. This narrow focus definitely intensifies the vision of the documentary... but at the same time, it makes it feel a bit incomplete, omitting part of the historical frame which would seem indispensable to complete the story. On the other hand, director Brett Morgen fulfilled with his mission, deeply digging into Kurt Cobain's past until getting a detailed audiovisual tapestry of his life. Home videos, personal recordings, public interviews and Cobain himself's copious notes integrate with each other into a narrative which is a bit diffuse on its shape, but not less representative of his tortured existence and the traumas (and vices) which probably contributed to his depression and eventual suicide. The result is simultaneously interesting and painful. Maybe too painful. There are passages of the documentary which, in my humble opinion, cross the line of morbidity and feel tremendously uncomfortable. I appreciate the fact that Morgen decided to depict the raw reality behind the legend, but I think he should have invested less time on that. Speaking of which, Cobain: Montage of Heck includes numerous musical interludes accompanied by animations which bring Cobain's writings and diaries to life. These animations might be a bit disturbing (we couldn't expect less in a biography of this artist), and they are always accompanied by songs of Nirvana and other artists. The problem is that I felt them a bit longer than they should; they are visually attractive and they are useful to separate the numerous interviews and "talking heads", but they tend to extend themselves for more than they should, inflating the running time to 145 minutes. Nevertheless, I found Cobain: Montage of Heck an interesting documentary, even though it will definitely have more value to the fans of Cobain's. Besides, this film renewed my respect for Cobain's legacy and generated me unexpected compassion for his tortured spirit (even if part of that torture was self-inflicted).

Some will complain that the documentary doesn't focus enough on Nirvana, and there's a very good reason for that. It's not a documentary about Nirvana; the film is intended to provide a more intimate look at Kurt Cobain as a person and provide insight into his more private and guarded moments. In that respect it is pretty successful. Nirvana's history is very well publicised, and the film assumes it's viewers are already fans that know a lot about the band (Why else would you watch a movie about the band's frontman?) The films biggest selling point is that for the first time a director had the full cooperation of Cobain's family and access to the archive of materials he left behind, much of it had never been seen by the public eye before. These include home movies dating back to him as baby, behind the scene footage, and audio recordings. There is also going to be a companion book dedicated to never before seen photos and other materials that were unearthed. Unfortunately, it's not as exciting as it sounds. There may have been information I had never heard before, but none of it was surprising or profound. It all falls in line with what you would expect if you knew anything about Kurt going in. (I'm sure some people will disagree and say they found it shocking, but I didn't.) That being said the archival materials were well utilized and had a good presentation that fit into the story that was being told. It was nice to see them even if it was an over- hyped aspect of the movie.From a technical standpoint the film really is a marvel. The animated transitions were a great way to incorporate the drawings and doodles that littered Kurt's notebooks. There are also scenes featuring puppetry and stop motion that are also inspired by his art and/or song lyrics. These are all really cool and actually provide more insight to his artistic style and writing process than you would think. Additionally, several segments are entirely animated, and they look beautiful. Doing this is much more captivating than just just showing people talk about events or have a voice-over with a slideshow of pictures. It was a very good choice, and adds a lot to the viewing experience. The film's soundtrack features live Nirvana recordings, covers and remixes, as well as music by other artist that fit the scenes, such as the Buddy Holly song that plays over his parents home movies from the '60s. This is well executed and I particularly love the violin rendition of "Smell Like Teen Spirit" that was used to mimic an orchestral score in the longest animated sequence. Overall the film is an energetic and seemingly honest look at Kurt Cobain and the man he was. It was well made, entertaining, and a worthwhile documentary that stands head and shoulders above any other documentaries about him.