Originally Posted by lungfish
Kurt Cobain About A Son
( last paragraph ("what affected me the most...") is a bit of a spoiler)
I didn't even know this was playing today (at the IFC Center) until I was walking along 6th Avenue this afternoon and spotted it written across the marquee. Bought a 1:40 ticket and sat upstairs, staring at a "The Cranes Are Flying" poster until the movie started (it was about 1:00 then). I read the very short review in the L Magazine and it was negative so I thought, "hmm.." Then I read Camille Dodero's review in today's Village Voice and it was on the brighter side, which reassured me. Went downstairs into the theater and waited for the movie to start.
'About A Son' hit me in a way I didn't think it would. I was interested in the whole idea of the film ever since I read that 'Sight and Sound Magazine' review a few months ago, and the idea of listening to bits and pieces of the 24+ hours of audio recorded by Azerrad in late '92/early '93 set into a narrative excited me. And I guess when the movie started what at first seemed timid and simple began in about 10 minutes or so to really resonate and was, as Dodero writes, "deeply moving." Contrary to what may be looked upon as a negative aspect, what Schnack has filmed to compliment Kurt's voice, in terms of landscapes and environmental ambience, helps the movie *be* a movie. The fact that what you see is essentially Kurt's world as he saw it and as he lived in it (many, if not all, places being the exact same places Kurt inhabited) is an important and a visually stunning part of the film (animation included).
If you're a big Nirvana/Kurt fan, biographically speaking, you will notice just about every visual reference there is in the film, from the Pear Street apartment he shared with Tracy in Olympia to his schools and the streets of Aberdeen, Montesano, and Seattle. On the other side of that coin, you will also have most likely heard or read, in some form or another, a lot of what Kurt says in the film, though he definitely expounds deep into new and unheard of aspects of his life. Of course, though, it isn't so much what he says but how he says it. He speaks in an obviously comfortable and trusting tone. He sounds the most genuine you'll ever hear Kurt sound and it's because he was. He comes off lucid, happy, articulate, vulnerable, mad, confused, passionate: merely human.
Along the way, you see strangers faces a lot. Basically they are the faces of those aforementioned towns/cities current residents. Some were matter of fact, one was funny and I guess most were there to humanize Kurt and show the people that now make up the population of where Kurt grew up, I guess. It didn't affect me too much. One thing that kind of irked me though was some of the editing. Audio and visual sometimes were edited and segwayed (sp?) awkwardly. And some of the audio differ in quality but I realize that can't be helped.
What affected me the most was the ending, which was hinted at in Dodero's review. When talking about Frances and his life and where he wanted it to go, and where he saw it going, Courtney calls to Kurt, interrupting his conversation with Azerrad and asks for a favor (i don't recall precisely what she says but it may have had something to do with Frances.. not sure), she asks him not to forget and he assures her. Cutting to black and to another interview, Azerrad asks Kurt if he is a martian (echoing and alluding to the earlier mention by Kurt of thinking he was an alien baby who was dropped down to earth) and he responds, "yes," while they laugh. Azerrad proceeds to thank Kurt "from the bottom of his heart" and wishes him "good luck." He says good night and bye, and Kurt responds with a gentle, "Bye Michael." The click of the phone hangs in the darkness and is followed by photographs of Kurt by Charles Peterson.
It's a sad and beautifully poignant ending.
I enjoyed it and don't think I'm overpraising it.
It was definitely a wonderful documentary.
Highly recommended.
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(in short, to quote someone by the name of neadysamurai on youtube, "The film is not a documentary about Nirvana, the band Kurt fronted, nor is it even a documentary in the traditional sense, but a profound, almost dream-like account of Cobain's own successes and failures, thoughts and experiences, allowing the audience unprecedented intimacy with a legendary figure in popular culture.")
pretty much.
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