{"id":32,"date":"2005-09-09T15:52:51","date_gmt":"2005-09-09T19:52:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/?p=32"},"modified":"2022-10-26T18:17:02","modified_gmt":"2022-10-26T22:17:02","slug":"kurt-courtney","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/kurt-courtney\/","title":{"rendered":"Nick Broomfield doesn’t know what to believe about Kurt Cobain in Kurt & Courtney"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Kurt & Courtney<\/em> is a documentary by Nick Broomfield about the controversy surrounding the apparent suicide of Kurt Cobain.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Not yet knowing he himself will become part of the story, Broomfield holds his cards pretty close to his chest throughout. It’s not until fairly late in the film that he begins to describe his own feelings. His interviewees cover an entire spectrum of responses to the death: all the way from unambiguous suicide to unambiguous murder. Some on each side are credible, some are… to say the least, not. The only thing that seems clear is that Love is a monster, and the question becomes not “did Cobain commit suicide or was he murdered?” but rather “did Love drive him to suicide or have him murdered?”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A thick soup of inconclusive opinions, recollections and possibly lies leave Broomfield not knowing what to believe (as he reveals in a despairing voiceover). He finally comes across a journalist willing to go on the record with several recorded death threats given by Love and, dishearteningly given that he was apparently a gifted, sweet, and loving person, Cobain himself! At last, some concrete evidence. Even then, Broomfield doesn’t quite reveal his feelings. So it comes as quite a surprise when he makes a guerilla attack upon Love at an ACLU event. Of course it’s an atrocity that she’s even there, given her documented behavior towards journalists (with whom of course Broomfield personally identifies), but his sudden and very public attack is powerful and shocking. Even his cameraperson couldn’t hold the camera still.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here’s the confessional part: I never really liked Nirvana. An interesting point about the film: unless I missed something, the word “grunge” is never spoken. Instead many individuals confidently describe Nirvana as simply “punk.” And you saw this coming: I never really liked punk. I think I have an intellectual understanding of it: the significance of its arrival and the wide-reaching spread of its influence. All true, but I don’t chose to listen to it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So I came to the film without a full knowledge of the music and the band’s history, and without the preconceived notions of Cobain and Love fans are likely to have. So for me, the film is not really about any of those things; its larger theme really has to do with how one can lose the big picture (to use a cliche without being able to think of a better term at the moment) the closer you look, and the finer your focus. And not to mention the disturbance your gaze can cause if you press it in too close.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Kurt & Courtney is a documentary by Nick Broomfield about the controversy surrounding the apparent suicide of Kurt Cobain. Not yet knowing he himself will become part of the story, Broomfield holds his cards pretty close to his chest throughout. It’s not until fairly late in the film that he begins to describe his own […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":5085,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[15,2,13],"tags":[1372,27,1371,1369,1373,1178,1370],"class_list":["post-32","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-3-stars","category-movies","category-music","tag-courtney-love","tag-documentary","tag-grunge","tag-kurt-cobain","tag-nick-broomfield","tag-nirvana","tag-seattle"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2005\/09\/kurt-courtney-feature.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pa9lhB-w","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":40,"url":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/sid-nancy\/","url_meta":{"origin":32,"position":0},"title":"Sid & Nancy","author":"Chad Ossman","date":"September 17, 2005","format":false,"excerpt":"And now to raise the gander of another friend. Sorry, Kevin, but I'm still not much of an Alex Cox fan. I can't say that Sid & Nancy, his look into the lives of Sid Vicious and Nancy Spungen, spoke to me. But no doubt, Gary Oldman is superb (the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "3 Stars"","block_context":{"text":"3 Stars","link":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/category\/ratings\/3-stars\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Sid & Nancy","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2005\/09\/sid-nancy.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2005\/09\/sid-nancy.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2005\/09\/sid-nancy.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2005\/09\/sid-nancy.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2005\/09\/sid-nancy.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":4082,"url":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/songs-that-broke-my-heart\/","url_meta":{"origin":32,"position":1},"title":"The Songs That Broke My Heart","author":"Chad Ossman","date":"March 17, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Rock 'n' roll is not an everyday conversation topic around our family table, but the improbable longevity of The Rolling Stones was remarkable enough to come up once during dinner. I had recently listened to \"Sympathy for the Devil\" for the first time in a while, and remarked upon how\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Music"","block_context":{"text":"Music","link":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/category\/main-menu\/music\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Nick Drake","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/03\/nick-drake.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/03\/nick-drake.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/03\/nick-drake.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/03\/nick-drake.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/03\/nick-drake.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":1439,"url":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/joy-division\/","url_meta":{"origin":32,"position":2},"title":"There’s Nothing Pretty: Grant Gee’s Joy Division","author":"Chad Ossman","date":"January 23, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"Grant Gee's documentary Joy Division covers the all-too-brief history of the eponymous post-punk band from Manchester. Joy Division was tragically short-lived, only completing two albums before lead singer Ian Curtis' suicide in 1980, but disproportionately influential. Their sound is all over the early U2 albums Boy and October, and Interpol\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "3 Stars"","block_context":{"text":"3 Stars","link":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/category\/ratings\/3-stars\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Joy Division","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/01\/joy-division-kevin-cummins.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/01\/joy-division-kevin-cummins.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/01\/joy-division-kevin-cummins.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/01\/joy-division-kevin-cummins.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/01\/joy-division-kevin-cummins.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":1458,"url":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/solyaris\/","url_meta":{"origin":32,"position":3},"title":"Andrei Tarkovsky’s Solyaris (Solaris) is Vertigo in Space","author":"Chad Ossman","date":"January 29, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"The opening credits of Andrei Tarkovsky's 1972 film Solyaris state it is \"based on the science fiction by Stanislaw Lem.\" It's perhaps telling that the term \"science fiction\" is used in place of simply \"novel.\" This faint hint of apology may hint at a lack of respect for the original\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "3 Stars"","block_context":{"text":"3 Stars","link":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/category\/ratings\/3-stars\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/01\/solaris-1972-feature.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/01\/solaris-1972-feature.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/01\/solaris-1972-feature.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/01\/solaris-1972-feature.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/01\/solaris-1972-feature.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":1335,"url":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/ridley-scott-black-rain\/","url_meta":{"origin":32,"position":4},"title":"Michael Douglas vs. the yakuza in Ridley Scott’s Black Rain","author":"Chad Ossman","date":"November 26, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"Ridley Scott's police thriller Black Rain (1989) opens in New York City at a time when The Meatpacking District actually was a meatpacking district. Tough cop Nick (Michael Douglas) is a ridiculously aggressive, foul-mouthed tough guy who tools around the city astride his crotch rocket. The despised Internal Affairs department\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "2 Stars"","block_context":{"text":"2 Stars","link":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/category\/ratings\/2-stars\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/11\/black-rain-feature.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/11\/black-rain-feature.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/11\/black-rain-feature.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/11\/black-rain-feature.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/11\/black-rain-feature.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":5750,"url":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/businessman-artiste-or-madman-we-live-in-public\/","url_meta":{"origin":32,"position":5},"title":"Businessman, artiste, or madman? We Live in Public","author":"Chad Ossman","date":"September 26, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"If you dig the deeply cynical TV series Black Mirror, you\u2019ll love this documentary profile of businessman\/artiste\/madman Josh Harris. Love, hate, or pity him, Harris is undoubtedly a fascinating individual who succumbed to information-age and surveillance state delusion back during a time when we still used terms like \u201ccyber-surfing the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "3 Stars"","block_context":{"text":"3 Stars","link":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/category\/ratings\/3-stars\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"We Live in Public","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/we-live-in-public.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/we-live-in-public.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/we-live-in-public.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/we-live-in-public.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/we-live-in-public.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x"},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=32"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7785,"href":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32\/revisions\/7785"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5085"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=32"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=32"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=32"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}