Kurt Cobain About a Son (2006)

In this visual essay style documentary, intimate audio of journalist Michael Azerrad's interviews with Kurt Cobain is played over more recently photographed footage of Cobain's Washington state homes and haunts.

Director:

AJ Schnack

Stars:

Kurt Cobain, Michael Azerrad, Courtney Love

2 nominations.

Cast

Credited cast:
Kurt Cobain	...	Narrator

Storyline

An intimate and moving meditation on the late musician and artist Kurt Cobain, based on more than 25 hours of previously unheard audiotaped interviews conducted with Cobain by noted music journalist Michael Azerrad for his book "Come As You Are: The Story of Nirvana." In the film, Kurt Cobain recounts his own life - from his childhood and adolescence to his days of musical discovery and later dealings with explosive fame - and offers often piercing insights into his life, music, and times. The conversations heard in the film have never before been made public and they reveal a highly personal portrait of an artist much discussed but not particularly well understood.

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Plot Keywords:

kurt cobain | grunge era | depression | grunge rock | punk rock | 

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Taglines:

A revealing and intimate portrait of a misunderstood genius.

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Genres:

Documentary | Music

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Details

Official Sites:

ED Distribution [France] Official site

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

3 October 2007 (USA)

Also Known As:

Untitled Kurt Cobain Project

Filming Locations:

Aberdeen, Washington, USA

Box Office

Opening Weekend:

$10,749 (USA) (5 October 2007)

Gross:

$80,689 (USA) (11 January 2008)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Bonfire Films of America, Sidetrack Films

Technical Specs

Runtime:

96 min 96 min

Color:

Color

Did You Know?

Trivia

Roughly eighty minutes into the film, Nirvana biographer and co-producer Michael Azerrad appears for a few seconds looking at the camera.

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Quotes

Narrator: I never intended to have some kind of a mystery about us, it's just that i didn't have anything to say in the beginning and now that it's gone on long enough that there's actually a story in a way, but still i think every night that you leave i think, god my life is so fucking boring, compared to so many people i know, we don't deserve to have a book written about us.

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Connections

References Barney & Friends (1992)

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Soundtracks

"Downed"
Written by Rick Nielsen
Performed by Cheap Trick

User Reviews

Worthy coverage of Cobain, but not for many

A quiet, slow, but haunting meditation on the late rock hero may be an acquired taste for pre-existing fans, but ultimately ends up being a haunting character study regardless. Why this documentary really sticks out is in it's approach. Guided merely by audio clips of one of Cobain's last, and most in-depth interviews, the director shows long and lingering images of his surroundings while we listen to the troubled, quite misperceived star vent his frustrations with celebrity and recall his modest upbringings.

While slightly overlong with silent pauses in between statements, About A Boy is unique, intimate, and ultimately extremely satisfying in distilling some of the myths surrounding this icon and helping to re-humanize him again by giving us the visual counterparts to Cobain's world, without the hype.