Kurt Cobain: About a Son
The new biopic “Kurt Cobain: About a Son” is due for DVD release on 19 February 2008, just one day before what would have been the troubled musician’s 41st birthday. The film is an insightful and moving portrait of Kurt Cobain as revealed through conversations between Cobain and renowned music journalist Michael Azerrad. The film has received positive reviews from the Washington Post and Rolling Stone magazine, and has been well received at several film festivals.
Directed by A.J. Schnack, “Kurt Cobain: About a Son” is based on more than 25 hours of audio interviews which Michael Azerrad recorded as material for his book “Come As You Are: The Story of Nirvana”. Schnack took a selection from these interviews – which have never been heard before – and blended them with images of Aberdeen, Seattle and Olympia – three Washington state cities which played a significant role in Kurt Cobain’s life. Audiences are given poignant insight into Kurt Cobain’s life as told by Cobain himself. He talks about his childhood and adolescence, his discovery of music and his response to fame. He is candid about his chronic depression, his ongoing battle with poor health and feelings of insecurity, as well as his creative passion, successes and failures.
”Kurt Cobain: About a Son” does not feature any of Nirvana’s music as one may have expected. Instead, the sound-track includes the music of at least 20 musicians that in different ways influenced Cobain and the music that rocketed Nirvana to fame. The soundtrack features David Bowie, Queen, R.E.M., Bad Brains, Scratch Acid and Iggy Pop, as well as haunting original score by Death Cab for Cutie’s Ben Gibbard and Nirvana producer Steve Fisk.
Kurt Cobain is seen by many to have been the spokesman for Generation X – a generation who were raised in the midst of the societal and cultural turmoil of the 70s and 80s. Although Cobain never claimed the title of Generation X spokesman, the film brings out that he was a deep-thinking individual who was profoundly affected by this upheaval. He in turn, had an enormous influence on a generation who identified closely with him. His suicide in 1994 at the age of 27 was a devastating blow to fans. The biopic “Kurt Cobain: About a Son” is a moving tribute to their idol.