Kurt Cobain: About a Son

In 1992 and 1993 the journalist Michael Azerrad spoke with Kurt Cobain for more than twenty-five hours for his book on Nirvana. The tapes were put away after the book and went unheard for over a decade. AJ Schnack's documentary is built entirely on them: nobody else speaks in the film, there is no expert commentary and no archive news footage. The images are of the three Washington cities in Cobain's life: Aberdeen where he was born, Olympia where he spent his late teens, and Seattle where he died. The camera films today's streets, houses and people; the voice is Cobain's from fifteen years earlier. That separation is the film's actual idea. The music is a deliberate choice too: no Nirvana tracks play through the film, only songs by the artists who shaped him. Nirvana arrives only in the closing credits. Who it's for: Anyone interested in Nirvana, the 1990s music scene, and formally unusual music documentary. Who it's not for: Visually it is nearly eventless and the pace is very slow. If you want anything about Cobain's death, the film never goes there.