morfiend Posted April 26, 2015 Share Posted April 26, 2015 I apologize if a thread exists on this topic, if so please close this one and yes, my review/grammar skills suck. So, Montage of Heck was finally released in theaters on 4/23 and I was able to catch a showing the next day in Seattle. For those who don't know, this documentary was 8 years in the making and the first one authorized by the family (Frances is actually an executive producer). The director Brett Morgen was allowed access to Courtney Love's archives of Cobain related home videos, recordings etc, many never seen/heard by the public. Courtney, Cobain's mom, sister, dad and step mom were all interviewed, some for the first time on film. Dave Grohl was also interviewed but it was very late in the process and didn't make the final cut. *SPOILERS* You've been warned! My expectations for this film weren't that big. I've seen/read/listened to almost everything related to Cobain/Nirvana that's worth getting and the documentaries up to this point haven't been that great. Montage of Heck is a totally different animal in comparison to the other Cobain films and you can tell director Brett Morgen took his time and made sure to get it right. The interviews with the family that were sprinkled throughout the film were very well done. Morgen chose to only focus on Kurt's close family and his best friend (Krist), which really brought a more personal feel to the film. Certain parts of the film have Kurt telling the story of himself in his own words, many times with animated sequences of him acting the part in cartoon. Plenty of concert footage is shown, most of which I'd seen on the Live Sold Out Tonight, Live at the Moore, Unplugged and With the Light's Out dvd's. Some of the most interesting parts of the movie are when home video clips of Kurt, Frances and Courtney are shown. Seeing Kurt and Courtney as parents on film was something nobody had really seen before. Some of the scenes are funny with Kurt playing with Frances or Courtney and Kurt making fun of each other (Courtney also flashes the camera a few times). Some of the more sad clips show Kurt really strung out on heroin. In one particular scene, Courtney wants Kurt to help give Frances her first hair cut but Kurt can barely stand up/speak during the scene. These particular scenes really upset Kurt's mom and sister who wanted them removed from the film according to director Brett Morgen. Thankfully, Morgen talked the family into keeping them in as to not romanticize Kurt and show the struggles he was obviously dealing with. Morgen said in a recent interview that if seeing Kurt like this stops anybody from using or thinking about using heroin than the scenes served a huge purpose. Overall, I was very impressed with the film and can't wait to see it again when it hits HBO in a week or so. My only complaints are that the transition between Channing and Grohl was pretty much skipped over but I guess given the purpose of the film it wasn't that important. Also, Frances is only on screen as a baby, it would've been great to hear some of her thoughts but I don't blame her at all for staying off the film. The movie ends really abruptly after a screen with text saying when Kurt died leads to the ending credits. I thought we'd get a few more interviews from the family about Kurt's death but the more I think about it this is probably the proper way the movie should end. Anyway, if you're a huge Nirvana fan get out there and see it in a theater, it's well worth the money and it was fun seeing it on a huge screen with great audio and other fans. The documentary will also air on HBO on May 4th. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paranoidantroyd Posted April 27, 2015 Share Posted April 27, 2015 I'm betting there were no scenes that portrayed Courtney in a bad light. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
morfiend Posted April 27, 2015 Author Share Posted April 27, 2015 I'm betting there were no scenes that portrayed Courtney in a bad light. *MORE SPOILERS* In one interview she said she "almost cheated" on Kurt but he was onto her, which she thinks led to his overdose in London that almost killed him. She also talked about her own drug addiction a few times. The Vanity Fair article talking about how Courtney was on heroin when pregnant with Frances was also brought up and she admitted to doing it during part of her pregnancy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paranoidantroyd Posted April 27, 2015 Share Posted April 27, 2015 "Almost cheated". Hilarious. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
morfiend Posted May 5, 2015 Author Share Posted May 5, 2015 This is now playing on HBO! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
njpunkmusic Posted May 5, 2015 Share Posted May 5, 2015 I too like the OP was super excited for this. I've seen and read all the Nirvana/ Kurt documentaries over the last 15+ years and was always drawn to it. He was the first "rockstar" I ever knew of as a first grader. I was mesmerized from age 7. I remembered always watching smells like teen spirit, listening to my older brothers Nevermind tapes, buying my own copy of In Utero, watching Unplugged and even knowing at my young age how erie and epic it was. I remember when MTV announced he committed suicide and the funeral service. Ect ect. Anywaysss I was super excited for this doc and watched the premier last night. I was not let down in anyway, but a few things did bother me. I always knew how big of a junkie he was, but seeing him during the hair cutting of Francis scene just made me sad and lose respect for him. i also wish they would have covered the vanity fair threats more and his suicide. But I understand why they didnt want to focus on the suicide part. Interview Francis at age 21? I really enjoyed the cartoon segments. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paranoidantroyd Posted May 5, 2015 Share Posted May 5, 2015 It was ok. Wouldn't watch it again. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shinji Posted May 5, 2015 Share Posted May 5, 2015 I thought it was a worthwhile watch. There is just so much to the whole story, they could make a 24-hour long documentary on it, so it must be hard to contain it all within 2 hours. It was really sad to see the hypocrisy between his written letters/diary/whatever those images were and seeing him on heroine while holding his child. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shinji Posted May 5, 2015 Share Posted May 5, 2015 Do you guys know if that was actually his voice describing his childhood in those cartoon shorts? Who the heck did he talk to in that much detail about his personal life? njpunkmusic 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
njpunkmusic Posted May 5, 2015 Share Posted May 5, 2015 Do you guys know if that was actually his voice describing his childhood in those cartoon shorts? Who the heck did he talk to in that much detail about his personal life? Im almost certain it was actually him. The first one about the "retard girl" was probably him in an interview. The one where he is writting songs at his currents gf's house is probably just his records and he left them on when the phone rang Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
njpunkmusic Posted May 5, 2015 Share Posted May 5, 2015 http://www.cartoonbrew.com/documentary-2/first-look-montage-of-heck-part-animated-kurt-cobain-doc-110368.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
morfiend Posted May 6, 2015 Author Share Posted May 6, 2015 The voice in those animated sequences is definitely him. The audio was taken from Kurt's private archive and was just him talking into a recorder, not being interviewed. I'm reading the Montage of Heck companion book and it mentions that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoToRoBo Posted May 6, 2015 Share Posted May 6, 2015 I was actually really refreshed b them not focusing on the suicide. We have all seen/read everything there is to read about that day. The documentary showed me a lot of stuff I've never seen. my only critique is the whole final third of this documentary just gets sad and depressing. Sends you off all wrong. I guess what can you do, his life ended sad and depressing. Great documentary. I can watch any documentary HBO puts out though. They do a great job at selecting and creating documentaries, Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paranoidantroyd Posted May 6, 2015 Share Posted May 6, 2015 Those royalty checks have afforded Courtney quite a bit of plastic surgery. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
STÖNCÜLD Posted May 6, 2015 Share Posted May 6, 2015 I really thought it was well done. It gave me some insight into why he killed himself. Obviously he was very ashamed of what he was doing, and didn't feel like he deserved the praise he was getting. I, regardless of his personal life think he was an amazingly gifted person. I have always loved Nirvanas music and always will. I really enjoyed how it wasn't wall to wall dialog, they let the art, and home movies speak for themselves, with pauses to let the gravity of how fucked up things were sink in. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shitty Rambo Posted May 13, 2015 Share Posted May 13, 2015 Damn sad doc. I know it sounds shitty, but I have a hard time respecting drug addict musicians who leave their kids behind (i.e. Bradley Nowell) but taking a look at his childhood/adolescents really put things into perspective. I'd even argue that hurt him more than his relationship with Courtney Love, who was more of an enabler than a perpetrator. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
piky0032 Posted May 13, 2015 Share Posted May 13, 2015 I liked it.....didnt feel like it was as Ground breaking as some adverts have thrown out.....i stayed for the interview with the Morgan after the credits and really didnt enjoy that..... echoing the feelings re the hair cut scene....made me feel icky.... Probably wouldn't watch again in a hurry....Made me really wanna listen and get right back into the music which is rad Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kgry Posted May 13, 2015 Share Posted May 13, 2015 Not a fan of the band or him but I caught 20 to 30 minutes of this. I came in around the part where they get into the drug use. Those scenes where they are just rambling about stuff inside the house all high are bizarre. I'd say the little time I spent watching, it was mostly disturbing and sad. Maybe the beginning was better. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KingTacoMunster Posted May 13, 2015 Share Posted May 13, 2015 I agree with Kgry, I want to watch it but Ive never been a fan of nirvana, mostly kurt, because I do love some grohl. I was hoping if I did watch this, I would get Kurt more or appreciate him more, but it doesn't sound like I will. But im a sucker for doc's, so I will probably watch it this weekend. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jerseydave77 Posted May 13, 2015 Share Posted May 13, 2015 I haven't seen it yet but if you are simply a film fan Brett Morgen's work is always worthwhile - you can watch it for the craft as much as the subject. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nancy_raygun Posted May 13, 2015 Share Posted May 13, 2015 I thought it was decent - definitely the better of the Nirvana documentaries that have been released. I was a little disappointed they couldn't get Dave Grohl in there. It also would have been cool to see interviews with Kathleen Hanna, Sonic Youth, Meat Puppets, Pat Smear, and Buzz Osborne. But that might have been asking a lot. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
¯\_(ツ)_/¯ Posted May 14, 2015 Share Posted May 14, 2015 in my opinion it wasnt a nirvana doc it was a cobain doc. I really liked it. It was cool that everything besides the present day interviews was something he made Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jerseydave77 Posted May 15, 2015 Share Posted May 15, 2015 This film is absolutely brilliant. I'm a somewhat jaded doc viewer at this point but this just blew my mind. I mean, more than once I was watching sequences and had to rewind to watch again. This is so brilliantly made that I'm in awe. Words are kind of failing me at what I just watched. I don't even really like Nirvana - I just respect them - but this film... I'm done. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
¯\_(ツ)_/¯ Posted May 15, 2015 Share Posted May 15, 2015 I cant stop thinking about this Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paranoidantroyd Posted May 15, 2015 Share Posted May 15, 2015 Can't believe I'm the only one that thought it was meh. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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