Quartile rating: 6/10 · 1 rating
After rocker Kurt Cobain's death, ruled a suicide, a film crew arrives in Seattle to make a documentary. Director Nick Broomfield talks to lots of people. Portraits emerge: a shy, slight Kurt, weary of touring, embarrassed by fame, hooked on heroin; an out-going Courtney, dramatic, controlling, moving from groupie to star.
Nick Broomfield's provocative documentary about Kurt Cobain and Courtney Love is notable for its meta-narrative approach, where the filmmaker himself becomes part of the story as subjects refuse to cooperate and music rights are withheld. The plot structure is engagingly messy, following leads that often go nowhere, which mirrors the murky truth it's chasing. However, the cinematography is functional at best — verite handheld work without particular visual distinction. Acting is irrelevant as a category here, but interview subjects range from compelling to unreliable cranks, averaging below par in terms of illuminating insight. The novelty lies in Broomfield's signature style of bumbling-but-persistent journalism made transparent, though it had been used in his prior films. The ending, where Broomfield confronts the ACLU event, is somewhat anticlimactic given the buildup of conspiratorial threads that never resolve satisfyingly.