Kurt Cobain: Montage of Heck, also billed as Cobain: Montage of Heck, is a documentary film about Nirvana front man and '90s rock icon Kurt Cobain, which premiered at the 2015 Sundance Film Festival. It has received a limited theatrical release worldwide and premiered on television in the United States on HBO on April 24, 2015. The film was directed by Brett Morgen. It chronicles the life of Kurt Cobain from his birth in Aberdeen, Washington
in 1967, through his troubled early family life and teenage years and
rise to fame as front man of Nirvana, up to his death in April 1994 in Seattle
aged 27. The film includes artwork by Cobain as well as music and sound
collages composed by him. Much of music and sound collages were
released on the film's soundtrack, Montage of Heck: The Home Recordings.
A companion book was also released containing animation stills from the
film as well as transcripts of interviews, photographs, and Cobain's
artwork that were not featured in the film.
After Kurt Cobain
is born in 1967, his parents move to Aberdeen, Washington and shortly
after his sister Kim is born. Kurt lives a normal childhood, although
his father Don would pick on him. At the age of nine, his parents are
divorced. He lives with Don for a while until Don marries Jenny Westeby
and they have kids together. He moves back in with his mom and as a
teenager he becomes unruly and starts smoking pot with friends. He and
his friends start to visit the home of a developmentally challenged high
school classmate to steal her father's alcohol. It becomes a hard time
for Cobain, who considers suicide for the first time. After he attempts
to have sex with the girl, his classmates begin insulting and shaming
him. Cobain, unable to take the ridicule, lays down on train tracks with
the intention of ending his life, but the train travels on a different
railway.
After becoming homeless and living with friends, he eventually gets his own place at 17 and starts a band with Krist Novoselic. Chad Channing eventually joins the band on drums and they choose the band name to be "Nirvana".
Nirvana's first "shows" consists of playing for a few friends and
random passersby at local house parties. They eventually start playing
at clubs and radio stations and Kurt starts dating Tracy Marander. The
band signs onto Sub Pop record company and they release their first album "Bleach".
The band starts to have interviews and doing tours. After a short
while, Kurt breaks up with Tracy, Chad leaves the band, and Nirvana
leaves the label to sign onto DGC Records and Dave Grohl becomes the new drummer.
After recording their next album "Nevermind" their song "Smells Like Teen Spirit" becomes a hit and the band is launched into the mainstream. Kurt meets Courtney Love
and they start dating. In 1992, they get married after they find out
she is pregnant but at the same time Kurt gets into the drug heroin. In
an interview with Vanity Fair,
Courtney mentions Kurt's heroin habit and that Courtney tried it as
well, Lynn Hirschberg the journalist for the magazine writes that
Courtney used the drug while pregnant, misquoting her. Shortly after
Frances is born but they are confronted by The Los Angeles County
Department of Children's Services who take the Cobains to court,
claiming that the couple's drug usage makes them unfit parents. Due to
the claims made in the Vanity Fair article, Seattle child-welfare agents
remove the couple's baby daughter for around four weeks. The couple
eventually obtain custody in an exchange for agreeing to provide urine
tests and receive regular visits from a social worker. After months of
legal negotiations, the couple are eventually granted full custody of
their daughter.
Kurt's heroin use continues as the band records their new album "In Utero" in 1993. Pat Smear
joins the band and they start doing arena tours. and Cobain starts to
turn pale while suffering withdrawal. Not long after returning home,
Cobain's heroin use resumes. The band goes on to do an MTV
Unplugged performance and they continue touring again in early 1994.
After being diagnosed with bronchitis and severe laryngitis. He flies to
Rome the next day for medical treatment, and is joined there by
Courtney, on March 3, 1994. The next morning, Love awakes to find that
Cobain has overdosed on a combination of champagne and Rohypnol. Cobain
is immediately rushed to the hospital, and spends the rest of the day
unconscious. After five days in the hospital, Cobain is released and
returns to Seattle.
The screen cuts to black and a text appears stating "One month after
returning from Rome, Kurt Cobain took his own life. He was 27 years old"
before the credits start to play.
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