1. Skip to content
  2. Skip to main menu
  3. Skip to more DW sites

A new Kurt Cobain documentary

April 9, 2015

On the 21st anniversary of the suicide of rock legend Kurt Cobain, his daughter Frances Bean Cobain has released a film about her famous father, offering a new glimpse into the rock legend's life.

https://p.dw.com/p/1F5SV
Film Cobain: Montage of Heck
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/ Youri Lenquette/Arts Alliance

Using the name of an early mix tape by Kurt Cobain, front man of the grunge band Nirvana, director Brett Morgen titled the documentary "Cobain: Montage of Heck."

Having premiered in January at the 2015 Sundance Film Festival, the film is currently being shown in movie theaters worldwide. A collage of music, stills and home videos, it includes images of Cobain's wife Courtney Love and his daughter Frances Bean as well as demo tapes and interviews with the rock star's family, friends and colleagues.

Film Cobain: Montage of Heck
Cobain took his own life on April 5, 1994Image: picture-alliance/dpa/M. Noecker

Spanning the time from Kurt Cobain's second birthday to his daughter's first birthday, the videos were taken from a collection first released by his family to Brett Morgen, the film's director. Roughly 85 percent of the material, said Morgen, has not been publically seen to date.

Using diary entries and short stories by the rock star legend, Morgen includes animated sequences with sketches, comics and paintings of the versatile artist. The director called the materials an "extensive visual and acoustical autobiography" and the film "a journey through Kurt‘s inner life." "Spiegel" online described it as "one of the most touching and innovative music films seen in a long time."

fk/rf/az (dpa)