Kurt Cobain: Montage of Heck

No new information, no great revelations. Overhyped as the definitive documentary about Kurt Cobain, it's actually far too personal and fragmentary to add up to anything like a complete account of Cobain's life or his music. The earlier part is a weird but affecting diary but then when the band starts to take off it seems to abruptly switch into more of a concert film. The pacing is off as well; the story of Cobain's later life, his last few months, feels truncated..

Very personal. Visualizing the audio recordings by the man himself with animation works, and the use of Nirvana melodies on the score was really great. A must for fans, obviously.

Obviously the irritating editing is supposed to imitate Kurt's childhood ADD, to me it's off-putting and distracting. Nice idea but too unfocused and on top of that it's far far too long

If you're looking for a documentary about the history of Nirvana, this isn't it. I think this documentary tried to give a real sense of who Cobain was as a person. And I think it came as close as we're ever going to get. Seeing his sketches and writing was really interesting and illuminating. It does feel a little sanitised, but I liked it, for the most part.

I love Kurt Cobain and his music, but this documentary feels exploitative as fuck. I know the family is involved, but we weren't meant to his home videos and notebooks. It feels wrong. I'm going to listen the music and enjoy it, but that's it for me.

Nicely put together, like a big kurt puzzle.

Pretty interesting. The animation is excellent. Lot's of interesting footage from all over. It's really well put together. If they ever do a film about Kurt they should get Ewan MacGregor to play him.

Pretty great doco on the man, due to a nifty wealth of unreleased archival material, including his own journal writings, lyrics, illustrations, paintings, love letters, and I'm sure I saw a suicide note, all brought to life with animation, as well as some actual animation sequences that draw out some of Cobain's more meditative moments.

Unreleased material, along with the interviews with his mom, dad, and sister are all good. Always nice to see more of Kurt. This isn't a docu for people who want info dumps though: very little of it is new information. But it is a personal affair due to the way it incorporates Kurts own noodlings and thoughts, his artwork, and animation made for the movie. It's more of a collage than anything else and is incredibly creative. But sometimes scenes go on way too long and lose luster.

This was exhausting... If that was a peak into Cobain's head than no wonder he was done for!! I hated all the lyric scenes because they most certainly did not contribute to the story and after about 30 minutes I thought: it must be ending soon. I was wrong, because Kurt Cobain: Montage of Heck took another 100 minutes...To clarify: it was way way way too long....27/100

Feels kind of empty, and dishonest.

Deconstructs the Myth and Tragedy of Kurt Cobain, as it is understood in our cultural zeitgeist, and shows a montage of images that never answers the "why" or "who", but offers a glimpse of Cobain as a human being (the multifaceted incarnations that make up his being).

Changed my views on Courtney Love a little, and a movie that can do that has to be good.

Loved the animated sequences (especially in its first use). Remarkable transitions of the definition of some of the stock footage also. An extremely well presented doco that is fantastic viewing.

Yasanilan depreyondan cikip uzerindeki olu topragini atmak icin Cobain'in yaptigi gibi herseyi bosvermek ve su gercegi kabullenmek gerek: "eveyone is so phoney and selfish".

Wrong information at times or not, this should be the archetype in how to make a documentary engaging. It's perfect.

the source material is great (and i've no big issue with them showing the private stuff), the animations are decent albeit clicheeingly "disturbing", but the talking heads' bullshit and simplistic literal interpretations by the director make it a predictable, dishonest affair.

A personal and highly emotional documentary. I was never a huge Nirvana fan, but it is fascinating - albeit very sad - seeing so much detail about Cobain's life and struggles. Really liked the animated sequences and use of Nirvana music.

Only barely decent because of the brilliant animation. This 'docu' is a propaganda piece put together by Morgen/Love in response to Soaked in Bleach, another new docu, which is solely based on facts and focusses on the death of Cobain. I suggest everyone watches that documentary, as the murder on Cobain needs to gain more awareness and the case needs to be re-opened by the lousy Seattle Police Department who did an appalling 'job' at the time. All in all,this documentary is heavily tainted

I thought the movie itself moved along well enough, but after the backlash from people nearby, I think it's bad and poorly researched.

One of its premises, that Cobain was a genius and pure of heart, falls apart under a scrutinous eye. The canonization of a punk kid whose band arrived at the right time (and was very good) is ahistorical. Impressive on a technical level; Cobain's journals are animated and home movies are edited impressionistically. Makes me curious to see Morgen's 2017 Jane Goodall doc. Would like to know what the 25 and under crowd make of this thinly veiled attempt at apotheosis.

Gives some insight into the abstract creative process and madness of Cobain. The animation and re-envisioned music over his random musings is riveting and unsettling. It doesn't lead you by the hand to one portrayal of Cobain or lay it on thick with the King of Grunge nonsense. It opens the window into the simultaneous creative and personal ascent/descent of someone who was disturbed but still rational enough to conceive their own demise. Cobain lived his life like a performance art piece.

A very well done documentary, the best part is when they tell the story of Cobain as a teenager and you can see a window to himself, when they go into the Nirvana phase it becomes repetitive and very shallow, overall enjoyable.

This is a fascinating look at parts of Kurt Cobain's life. There is a lot of home video footage of Cobain and these videos are fascinating. This film of course does not cover everything about Cobain's life but it is still really interesting. Overall I would recommend this film.

An extremely stylized documentary that any Nirvana fan can immensely appreciate, putting the spotlight on a lot of things and showing you all perspectives. Worth a watch if you're a fan.

If i wasn't already sick of the Cobain mythos, i sure was by the end of these deadening, bloated 2+ hours.

Respectful, artistic documentary offering an especially good look at Cobain's childhood and youth, in a "Tarnation"-like montage including his notes and drawings and home recordings intercut with interview bits and studio-produced animations. Being "authorized" means it handles Courtney with kid gloves and stops short of Kurt's suicide, which is a weakness, but a greater shame is that it has nothing about Kurt's compositions and why they were special. Sadly, most rockumentaries don't have that.

Any doc about KC shouldn't be anything but engaging but does a good job of simply laying out his messed up upbringing to his really messed up self without sugarcoating him, b/c he really was strange. the doc loses its timelines flow as it goes on past half way, almost as if director got kind of lost. In the end though, for all his family rejections Kurt ended up defined more by the substance that took over his life, another zombie addict even his dear love for duaghter couldn't pull him out.

Not great, but revealing. Didn't realize exactly how much of a tortured soul he was. If you're looking for a doc on the band and the music then you will be at least somewhat disappointed. A film about the impact and genius of the band and music and influence would make a great bookend with this.

If you take issue with invading the privacy of a deceased person, don't watch this film. If you think invading the privacy of the deceased is impossible, this film is worth watching. It's a long film, but at no point was I looking down at my watch waiting for it to be over. While it helps, you don't have to be a Nirvana fan at all to enjoy this film. Ultimately, this film is about mental illness (and drug abuse to a lesser extent) and how they can creep in and destroy people.

Covers his infamous life. From his happy childhood, to where things went wrong, and to where he found his legacy. We meet the people from various stages in his life along with home footage of the happy junkie as depressed scribblings cover the screen. It's a well functioning introduction into who this iconic person was. Not so much his music, but where he came from and glimpses into his private life. Interesting, perhaps essential for the fans, only a semi-fulfilling portrait for others.

Interesting. The end seemed hastened and unfinished. (No pun intended)

Painfully bittersweet.