Film Review: About a Son
Of course, like the moment I go on hiatus is the moment I actually want to write about something. That’s okay, I guess that’s just how it goes.
I really didn’t want the week to go by without writing about the new Kurt Cobain documentary About A Son, which is playing at the Ken Cinema until next weekend.
This documentary is really unconventional because the images presented as a backdrop to the narrative (portions of an interview, conducted over several sessions between Kurt Cobain and Michael Azerrad) are not specifically of anything that Kurt is talking about. It’s really a collage of images that were put together to bring life to his words.
I went into the theatre knowing pretty much nothing about Nirvana. I never got into them at all and even now, I don’t own a Nirvana album. (Blasphemy, I know.) Anything I know about Kurt and the band and what it was like back then is based on reading articles about them in the past (like their infamous RS article where Kurt was photographed wearing his homemade “Corporate Magazines Still Suck” tee) and the virtual sainthood that Kurt Cobain has attained over the years. Of course, I heard them on the radio (back then and even more so now) so I was definitely familiar with their body of work and their progression from a band on SubPop to their signing to Geffen and their mainstream success. It was cool to hear Kurt talk about meetings with record labels (the story about Capitol Records was especially funny.) And when he gets personal (especially since he made a point to say that he doesn’t owe anyone details of his personal life), it’s very moving. You Courtney haters will not be pleased either as he says nothing but cool things about Courtney. I could go on about that since everyone knows I am a fan of Courtney, but I’ll spare you.
Just go see the movie and enjoy the awesome soundtrack while you’re at it.
