Kurt Cobain: About A Son

AJ Schnack

Sidetrack/Shout Factory

Matt Reeder (CHARTattack)

02/19/2008 3:05pm

Forget for a moment that Kurt Cobain was the frontman for one of the most influential rock bands of the last 30 years. Also ignore the fact that he killed himself when he was 27. Not so easy to do, is it? Remarkably, director AJ Schnack's film about Cobain's life actually manages to cut through all the misplaced hero worship and sensationalized rumours that have characterized the glut of films about the singer over the past decade or so. It achieves this in three key ways: the film is narrated entirely by Cobain thanks to 25 hours of audiotape interviews recorded by noted music journalist Michael Azerrad while researching for his book Come As You Are; the audio is backed by gorgeous and freshly shot images of the places mentioned in Cobain's narrative; and finally, Schnack soundtracks it all with music that inspired the singer during each juncture of his life (nary a note of Cobain's own music is to be found). They're presented in roughly chronological order, leaving viewers to fill in the blanks for themselves instead of being handed a predetermined picture of the singer.