Kurt Cobain on Film

Discussing "Kurt Cobain About a Son"

In " Kurt Cobain About a Son," filmmaker AJ Schnack marries images from the Nirvana frontman's life with extensive audio interviews conducted by journalist Michael Azerrad for his book, "Come As You Are: The Story of Nirvana." The result is a documentary that reveals the late rocker's feelings about his music and personal life, in his own words.

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Schnack was online Friday, Oct. 26 at 11:30 a.m. ET to discuss the film and Kurt Cobain's legacy. Schnack's previous credits include "Gigantic (A Tale of Two Johns)," a 2002 documentary about They Might Be Giants.

"Kurt Cobain About a Son" is playing in select cities and opens in Washington, D.C. on Oct. 26.

A transcript follows.

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Harrisburg, Pa.: What was Kurt Cobain's relationship with Courtney Love like? Do you see it as having several phases to it, and how would you describe what they felt about each other throughout the time they were together?

AJ Schnack: I think that one of the things that's really clear in the tapes is their affection for one another. Occasionally, Courtney would come into the room and interupt the interview for one reason or another. For instance, asking for a cigarette or saying that Michael and Kurt had to turn on a certain B-movie that was on television. And that was very interesting because their interactions were so funny and normal. And Kurt speaks about Courtney as someone he loves a great deal, even if he can also see some of her faults at the time. I don't have any specific knowledge about what happened in their relationship after the last interview - which was about a year before Kurt died.

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Washington, D.C.: Hi AJ,

Do you think there was anything that would have kept Kurt from eventually committing suicide, or was he just a broken individual that would have done this whether famous or not?

AJ Schnack: From what I heard in the tapes and what I've put in the film, I don't think that there was anything to prevent what happened.

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Johannesburg South - Gauteng South Africa: Is it possible that The Legend Of Cobain was only fueled by his untimely and elusive death? Because if one thinks about people living even as far off as Walkerville, South Africa; his name is common knowledge more so as Kurt Cobain than as Kurt Cobain of Nirvana. How legendary would he have been if he hadn't died in the way that he did and if it did not raise the conspiracy theorists and raise theories from hell and high water to far beyond?

AJ Schnack: Well, I think that it's true to some degree that his death fueled some of this, but it really only added to what was already happening. Remember that Kurt was not only the biggest rock star in the world, he was also charged with being the spokesperson for a generation and the leader of this patchwork musical movement known as grunge. And all of this less than a year after being a largely unknown musician living in somewhat impoverished conditions in Olympia, WA. Who knows what would have happened if he'd have been able to moderate that over a longer period of time. But he was a very interesting and inquisitive musician and likely would still be making relevant music.

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McLean, Va.: With your in-depth knowledge of Kurt as a man and knowing his value structure ... do you believe that Kurt would have been satisfied with the use of his image and music as a commercial commodity throughout the years? The sense I get is that Kurt would have disapproved and felt that Courtney and the others had exploited him and were overall morally bankrupt.

AJ Schnack: I think that what you're asking is part of a perception that Kurt hated commerciality and fame. This is not entirely true. He was conflicted about fame. In some cases he made very specific choices that were designed to make him well known or make him a lot of money. You hear it throughout the film, actually. So, I think it's an unfair perception to think that this has all been something Courtney has done against his wishes.

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Fortaleza,Brazil: What were the future projects of Nirvana, had Kurt not killed himself ?

AJ Schnack: It's unclear if there would have been future projects. Kurt talked a great deal of wanting to record with other people. But he also talked about Nirvana recording music that was more like R.E.M.

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Washington, D.C.: When you set out to make the movie, did you know you would take the approach that you did and just use the audio tapes and nothing else? Was there a temptation to go the usual documentary-with-talking-heads route?

AJ Schnack: Not really, because I did that in my last film (Gigantic - about They Might Be Giants) and I was really interested in doing something that was more visual, more like a tone poem. And I knew that these were the best interviews ever done with Kurt, so there was no need to add any other element to them.

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Washington, D.C.: There were a lot of problems with the film "Kurt & Courtney," but I thought one of the most prominent was that the filmmaker didn't use any Nirvana music. Why did you make that same choice? Is it a rights issue?

Can't wait to see your film!

AJ Schnack: No, I actually had planned on ending the film with a Nirvana song, but if you see the film, I think that you'll understand why a Nirvana song at that moment wouldn't really work. It's actually a quiet, lonely moment and using a Nirvana track felt like a bad Video Music Awards tribute reel. Also, this film isn't really about Nirvana. The words "Smells Like Teen Spirit" are never mentioned. He only says the word Nirvana once in the entire film. It really is about the world from his perspective - his presence and his absence. And I think the music that is in the film, comprised of Kurt's influences from Bowie to Queen, Mudhoney, the Vaselines, Bad Brains, Iggy - that excites me as a filmmaker more than a more typical approach.

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Gainesville, Fla.: I was a bit troubled several years back when Kurt's diaries were published in a slick profit-driven move. It seemed invasive and so contrary to what Kurt was about. I suppose I might have felt differently if the diaries ended up in a museum, but the whole roll out of the diaries like a "product" was icky, for lack of a better word. Based on your interviews, what do you think Kurt would have thought about it?

AJ Schnack: Well, these interviews were created for a book that Kurt wanted to have published, because he felt that the true story of his life was being obscured by other's false or mythologized accounts. So, I looked at this material as things that Kurt really wanted people to know, and I think when you see the film you'll see that we could have made a lot of choices that were more commercial in nature. Having not met Kurt, I don't feel I can speculate on what he would have thought. But those who knew him well who've seen the film have indicated to me that he would have appreciated that it was just him doing the talking.

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Denver, Col.: How much from your "unheard tapes" have we still not heard yet? Will there be a futire project with that? Or is the audio pulled from the tapes from the film pretty much all the good stuff?

AJ Schnack: There were 25 hours in total and we used material from about two hours. There may be some more to turn up on a DVD down the line, but I think we really pulled the best stuff for the film.

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Bethesda, Md.: I hung out with Nirvana when they opened for Loop at the 9:30 Club in April 1990 -- we were there to interview Loop at a press meet-and-greet. I spent the whole time with Nirvana talking about K Records and Olympia, Wash., where they lived. Kurt's girlfriend was deeply connected to the D.C. punk scene. Everything we talked about, all the indie rock, experimental shambling bands on K Records, D.C. straight-edge punk, which Kurt definitely believed in and the people we both knew ... I never heard Kurt talk about any of that stuff in any other interviews -- he rarely calls himself an Olympia resident and has almost no anti-drug quotes obviously. How hard was it to determine what the truth really was if his stories don't match?

AJ Schnack: He actually talks a great deal about Olympia in these tapes and makes it clear that Nirvana was an Olympia band, not a Seattle band. I think that perhaps what you are responding to is the media portrayal which shoehorned them into this Seattle movement, and thus Olympia is largely ignored. But if you see the film, there's actually a small section that deals with his conflicted feelings about the Olympia scene. He praises it and bemoans it. He thinks the communal aspects of it are great and then he talks about how boring "they" (people in the scene) were. I don't that means his stories don't match, I just think he was the type of person who'd look at the same thing and be of two minds about it.

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Bethesda, Md.: I am in charge of a youth band and I really want them to be exposed to stories of bands, especially a groundbreaking band like Nirvana. Is this movie appropriate for 15-year-olds? Thanks.

AJ Schnack: I think so but you or parents should make a judgment on that. There is a great deal of strong language and a lot of talk of his drug use (which he both defends and rejects). In addition there is talk of suicide.

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Portland, Ore.: I've heard that Kurt suffered from bipolar disorder and that non-compliance to meds and suicide are quite high for those suffering from it. Any comments?

AJ Schnack: I'm not a doctor, so I feel a bit dubious in diagnosing a bi-polar condition. I think it's fairly well known that Kurt suffered from extreme and untreated depression. This comes out fairly clearly in the film.

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Raleigh, N.C.: Was Kurt really as personally detached from the rest of the Seattle grunge scene as we are lead to believe? I know there was a minor age gap, a little culture gap (Kurt living in the burbs) but I have to imagine they all ran in the same circles.

AJ Schnack: In the beginning, Kurt seemed to want both the acceptance of the Seattle community (after all, that seemed to mean something - Seattle was the big city) but also felt that he couldn't identify with a lot of people there because they had a different class upbringing than he did. Ultimately, though, that community is pretty tightly knit. I just think, as he says in the film, he "stayed a monk", stayed home and didn't try to insert himself into a social scene.

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Calumet City, Ill: Hi AJ, I am looking forward to your film. Kurt is huge icon, and meant so much to us and still does. My question is: Did Courtney support this project? ( Did she approve?)

One last thought..Your film will be a great memoir for Frances Cobain!

Thanks.

Heather your mysapce friend from Chicago.

AJ Schnack: Thanks for that. We just tried to keep Courtney aware of the project we were making. The only thing we needed from her or from the estate was - one time a record label said they couldn't license songs by other bands to us if the estate didn't approve of the project. And very nicely, they called and said that they didn't have a problem with the film. But that was all.

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Washington, D.C.: How does Michael Azerrad feel about the movie? I am guessing you collaborated fairly closely, since he recorded the interviews.

AJ Schnack: It was great working with Michael. I think he feels that the film came out better than he could have hoped. At least, that's what I've heard him tell people.

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St.Catharines, Ontario: With a fictional film currently in the works, what pros/cons do you see in telling this story through fiction/non-fictional storytelling? What does your film have to offer that a fictional film may not, and vice versa?

AJ Schnack: I guess this goes to larger questions of my ideas of narrative vs. nonfiction storytelling. I really feel like this is one of the most exciting periods in the history of nonfiction filmmaking in that there are a number of filmmakers who are using every tool available to them - cinematography, animations, graphics, recreations, interviews - to create a new vision of what documentary or nonfiction can be. I write about these things a lot on my blog All these wonderful things - http://edendale.typepad.com. And I'm happy that this film is, in some small way, part of this movement.

But, I wouldn't have made this film if the audio tapes hadn't existed. And in thinking of dealing with an audio-only source, and my general desire to expand the idea of what a rock documentary is or could be, I had a lot more freedom than one might normally have dealing with a subject like Kurt. So, for me, this story really was a very specific thing that I was only interested in telling in this way, which was purely from Kurt's own voice, without the usual mix of commentators and friends.

And maybe I'm too close to it, but while I can maybe see an actor playing Kurt, I can't picture actors playing Krist or Dave. But there are some good people behind the proposed fiction film, so hopefully it will turn out OK.

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Bethesda, Md.: Watching interviews from him you get a sense of extreme loneleness and sense of loss. Did you get that feeling when you did this film?

AJ Schnack: It was strange, actually. I was sitting at home for a week or so, going through these tapes. And these were conversations that were recorded late at night - 2, 3, 4 AM - and they were really these two friends talking, not what you'd expect of interviewer/interviewee. Listening to these, hearing the voice of my friend Michael, hearing this other voice that is strong and funny and vibrant, it was easy to forget that Kurt was no longer alive. I think that happens to people when they see the film as well. You forget that it's even Kurt Cobain, with all the haze and controversy and iconography that are attached to him, speaking. You just connect with this voice. And at the end of the film, I think the loss of that voice, his absence by his own choice, is palpable.

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New York, N.Y.: I saw this film and it is beautiful and haunting all at the same time. Can you talk about what it took to get this film from idea to the actual screen? I mean in terms of the distribution approach you took.

AJ Schnack: Thanks for the nice words about the movie. It just got held over in NY at the IFC Center for another week.

First, we had to get the money to make the film, which is no easy task as I'm sure you can imagine. And we had to find someone who believed in the ideas behind our nontraditional approach. There were several parties who would have given us the money to make the film if it were a totally straight-ahead doc with lots of pictures of Kurt and the band and footage of them onstage.

Then, once the film premiered at the Toronto Film Festival, several of the distributors were interested but confused. Did audiences still care about Kurt, would they appreciate a film that didn't show his face (for the most part) and didn't use his music? Ultimately, we - like many others in nonfiction - have had to craft together a very grassroots approach to getting the film out. We can't buy big ads in newspapers. So we just try to let people know that this film is out there and hope that people - whether they are interested in Nirvana or not - will come out. So far, that's really worked for us. We open today in DC and in a bunch of other theaters next weekend and through the end of the year, so hopefully it will continue.

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AJ Schnack: Thanks so much for the questions and to WaPo for hosting. Was great to be here and hope you can check out the film in DC this weekend or, hopefully, at a theater near you.

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