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A very odd documentary in which Cobain’s life story is told in his own words.

What do you do when you want to make a documentary about a musician who was almost a music revolution unto himself, but you can’t get the rights to his music? You do what A.J. Schnack did: Make Kurt Cobain: About a Son, a two-plus hour documentary about the Nirvana lead man which features nary a song by the band and only a handful of still images of them.

Schnack got hold of roughly 25 hours worth of audiotapes that author Michael Azerrad made while interviewing Cobain in preparing for his eventual book Come As You Are: The Story of Nirvana. On those tapes, Azerrad got Cobain to open up about just about every aspect of his life. Schnack has reworked those tapes into a narrative in which Cobain gives his own life story. From his childhood dealing with his parents’ divorce, to early bouts with Scoliosis to, obviously, his shot to rock stardom, drugs and Courtney Love (who he admits he didn’t attach to at first out of love, but just to have something unpredictable around), Cobain spares few details and isn’t shy about his personal problems.

Cobain makes for an engaging narrator here. Watching the film, though, is another matter. Without the availability of the Nirvana library, and with literally only a handful of images of the band (a half dozen or so images show up briefly about an hour into the documentary), Schnack instead relies on filling up the screen with modern-day Aberdeen, where Kurt grew up. Sometimes the images match up with what Cobain is discussing (for example, when he talks about an early job working at a hotel, we get to see a current employee at the same hotel going about his job); more often than not, it’s just random shots of people standing or walking around. Or shots of the sides of buildings. Or fountain drink machines. It’s a bio-doc by way of Koyaanisqatsi.

Seriously, though, I know the rights to Nirvana’s music is a bit strangled these days (who even owns it now? Courtney? Geffen? Dave and Chris? Alf?), but really…you can get the rights to songs by Creedence Clearwater Revival, the Breeders, Iggy Pop, Cheap Trick, REM, Queen and David Bowie, but not one single Nirvana song?

Azerrad, Schnack and others involved in producing the film come together to explain how they put the project together in a featurette about its making. Schnack is featured on a selected commentary that shows a few scenes, and he explains why he used these particular shots. The final extra on this Shout Factory DVD is a comparison of Schnack’s pre-production footage and images as compared to what was ultimately shot for the film.

About a Son is worthy listening, though I’m still not fully convinced it’s worthy viewing. I give props to Schnack and his team for coming up with something unique, but I’m not convinced it’s fully successful.

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