1 of 2
Ugliness as beauty — images like this dead bird appear in the documentary Kurt Cobain: About a Son
2 of 2
Ugliness as beauty — images like this dead bird appear in the documentary Kurt Cobain: About a Son
Documentary reveals Kurt Cobain as confused and whiny but still tragic
Kurt Cobain has no gravesite just an embarrassing collection of tribute websites. If the countless books and articles written on the grunge-rock icon and Gus Van Sant’s snooze-worthy film adaptation of his final days still aren’t enough for the obsessive fans out there About A Son should be.
Utilizing the leftover interview tapes from Michael Azerad’s 1993 Cobain biography Come As You Are director A.J. Schnack’s documentary combines "long lost" audio clips of the Nirvana front man with visuals from Aberdeen Olympia and Seattle Washington. With his high-definition filming pastel washes and animated effects Schnack’s images provide a meditative and eye-pleasing look at the trio of cities where Cobain spent his formative years. Unfortunately he tries too hard to link Cobain’s words with shots of troubled teens outsiders and other images of ugliness as beauty.
While it is interesting to hear many of the things Cobain had to say in Azerad’s intimate conversations the grunge messiah also comes across as both condescending and a complainer striving too hard to be an outsider and feeling above every "normal person" he encountered. Sadly the 26-year-old Cobain seemed stuck in an angsty teen world.
With the mounting pressures of success constant drug abuse and the responsibility of supporting a family Cobain began to care deeply what other artists media outlets and his audience thought of him. Craving the subversive artistically respected superstar status of peers like Sonic Youth Cobain repeatedly lied about certain aspects of his life (specifically living under a bridge) which those close to him have admitted never happened. Maybe he was simply messing with the media or attempting to add to his own mythology but this still seems odd considering the conversations in this film were made with a trusted friend. Was Cobain a compulsive liar or worse delusional?
About a Son’s soundtrack is another interesting element. It features no music by Cobain focusing instead on his contemporaries (Mudhoney The Melvins and Scratch Acid) oft-cited influences (David Bowie The Vaselines and Lead Belly) and others whose connections are perhaps not so well known (Queen R.E.M. and Creedence Clearwater Revival). Ben Gibbard of Death Cab for Cutie also contributes a selection of ambient post-rock songs for the film straying from his usual coffee-shop indie-rock output with surprisingly strong results.
Clearly About a Son will appeal to Nirvana fans and completists more than the average viewer but even those not particularly invested in the band should find something to enjoy. Sections of the film do drag on and the middle third about Olympia and its music scene is 10 times more interesting than hearing whiny anecdotes from Cobain about growing up and struggling with his identity like any small-town teen. Still when images of the narrator finally appear in the film’s finale it becomes clear how valuable and unique it is to hear the story straight from the artist instead of the usual "experts" of the pop-culture-exploration genre.
