KURT COBAIN: MONTAGE OF HECK, THE FIRST FULLY AUTHORIZED DOCUMENTARY ABOUT THE ICONIC MUSICIAN, FROM ACCLAIMED FILMMAKER BRETT MORGEN, DEBUTS MAY 4, 2015 EXCLUSIVELY ON HBO & HIGHLY RECOMMENDED BY WHOM YOU KNOW! Bravo Frances Bean Cobain and Brett Morgen! Our Coverage Sponsored by Hallak Cleaners the Couture Cleaner
FEATURED IN IMAGE: Kurt Cobain
Photo Credit: The End of Music LLC/Courtesy of HBO
For nearly fifty years, Hallak Cleaners the Couture Cleaner has been entrusted with Manhattan’s finest wardrobes. New York’s fashion boutiques have been recommending Hallak to their loyal customers for years. They understand the importance of quality fabric care and protecting their client’s investment. While Hallak is known for their expert handling of couture and other precious items, they also make it a point to give your more casual garments the same level of attention. Their representatives are always on the look out for the hard-to-notice stains, loose seams, missing buttons, etc. You can trust Hallak Cleaners with your entire wardrobe and then some. A sample of some of their specialized services:
Tables & Bed Linens
Suede, Leather & Furs
Couture & Casual Wear
Custom Interior Services
Expert tailoring department located at both locations.
Complimentary Pick Up and Delivery Service 6 Days a Week.
Hallak Cleaners
1232 Second Avenue (near 65th)
New York, NY 10065
If you have any questions or would like to schedule a pick up, please feel free to email us at info@hallak.com
FEATURED IN IMAGE: Kurt Cobain at 2
Photo Credit: Wendy O'Connor/Courtesy of HBO
The singular sensation named Kurt Cobain is the latest and greatest subject by the King of Documentaries, HBO of course. You'll remember how fabulous their work is on Legends of Rock from Crossfire Hurricane, which we loved. Just like we did not live through the times of the Rolling Stones, though we were alive during Nirvana's rise to fame we can't say we listened to them, went to their concerts or read about them in rock magazines. Of course, we were aware of them!
We've learned through this fully authorized documentary all that you should know about Kurt Cobain, and it includes a lot of personal details like footage previously unseen by the public, interviews with his widow, Courtney Love, and this work is even executive produced by Cobain's only child, Frances Bean Cobain, who should be tremendously proud of herself. This could not have been easy to do.
The entire two hours plus is based on content from Kurt Cobain's family and also includes interviews with his mother and sister. He was the first grandchild on both sides of his family, and right from the start he had charisma. We loved the wonderful childhood home movies, and we emphasize that this is from early childhood. As you'll discover, when Kurt was 9 his parents divorced and as in many families, everything changed and Eden was lost.
FEATURED IN IMAGE: Kurt Cobain at 13
Photo Credit: Wendy O'Connor/Courtesy of HBO
Though Cobain was a rebel as he got older, he was a genius rebel. A thinker, Cobain also could have easily been a philosopher had he pointed himself in that direction. However, punk rock totally blew him away. This rebel with a cause came from quite humble beginnings and his cause was good music. He cared little for popularity: he only wanted to make quality music. You can tell that in his thoughts and in his words he truly had a vocation for making music, and took pains over being the best he could be musically.
Kurt Cobain detested interviews; he wanted the music to speak for itself. He was also curious as to how his fans interpreted his music.
FEATURED IN IMAGE: Kurt Cobain
Photo Credit: Wendy O'Connor/Courtesy of HBO
The many sides of his personality are revealed: expressive, passionate, powerful music emerges with conviction and raw delivery. It's eerie, poignant, and evocative of a haunting spirit.
Photo Credit: Courtesy of HBO
You'll see Kurt Loder, a MTV blast from the past!
Sadly, the substance abuse demons of Kurt Cobain were a constant issue. The interviews with band member Krist Novoselic added a great dimension to this work, and Krist comments that he was lucky to have beer and wine whereas Cobain had heroin. Parts of this are profoundly sad, but they do not eclipse the triumph of the positive moments. Once you get to know him, Kurt Cobain is highly likable, emotionally intelligent and really had a sixth sense about him.
This is definitely of a quirky nature-which we like. There were elements that reminded us of Grey Gardens.
FEATURED IN IMAGE: Kurt Cobain and Courtney Love
Photo Credit: Dora Handel/Corbis/Courtesy of HBO
The life of Kurt Cobain is a truly riveting tale; his interestingly complex personality shines through and you don't need to be of his generation or a Nirvana fan to appreciate the work done in Montage of Heck, you only need to have a curiosity for it.
We wish life had been kinder to him. Is genius a curse?
FEATURED IN IMAGE: Kurt Cobain
Photo Credit: The End of Music LLC/Courtesy of HBO
Kurt Cobain: Montage of Heck is Highly Recommended by Whom You Know.
Bravo Frances and Brett!
FEATURED IN IMAGE: Brett Morgan (Director)
Photo Credit: Brett Morgan/Courtesy of HBO
FEATURED IN IMAGE: Krist Novoselic
Photo Credit: The End of Music LLC/Courtesy of HBO
Kurt Cobain, legendary lead singer, guitarist and songwriter of Nirvana, “the flagship band of Generation X,” remains an object of reverence and fascination for music fans around the world. His story is told for the first time in KURT COBAIN: MONTAGE OF HECK, a fully authorized feature documentary co-produced by HBO Documentary Films and Universal Pictures International Entertainment Content Group, debuting MONDAY, MAY 4 (9:00-11:15 p.m. ET/PT).
Other HBO playdates: May 7 (4:45 p.m., 1:00 a.m.), 10 (3:00 p.m.), 11 (10:00 a.m.), 15 (1:00 p.m.) and 30 (noon)
HBO2 playdates: May 8 (9:00 a.m., 8:00 p.m.), 13 (2:00 p.m.), 16 (3:45 p.m.), 21 (2:15 p.m., 12:45 a.m.), 24 (10:30 a.m.) and 27 (10:00 p.m.)
Brett Morgen, the Oscar®-nominated filmmaker behind such acclaimed documentaries as the HBO presentations “Crossfire Hurricane,” which celebrated the 50th anniversary of the Rolling Stones, and “The Kid Stays in the Picture,” is writer, director and producer of KURT COBAIN: MONTAGE OF HECK. Visual artist Frances Bean Cobain, Cobain’s daughter, is executive producer.
FEATURED IN IMAGE: Brett Morgen (Director)
Photo Credit: John P. Fleenor/Courtesy of HBO
KURT COBAIN: MONTAGE OF HECK explores the indelible record of a life lived on the fine edge between madness and genius, painting a searing and unforgettable portrait of the iconic musician as it mirrors his quicksilver mind. Using Cobain’s own words and images, this intimate look at an elusive and conflicted artist marks the first documentary to be made with the cooperation of his family.
Morgen weaves together moving first-person testimony from Cobain’s mother and sister; his widow, Courtney Love; former girlfriend Tracy Marander; ex-bandmate Krist Novoselic and others with Cobain’s own words, providing an unflinching tribute to a contentious and contradictory talent, who is still revered by millions around the world 20 years after his tragic death.
Given unprecedented access to Cobain’s personal and family archives by the late rocker’s estate, Morgen uncovered a wealth of new material that documents the emotional rollercoaster of his personal life and celebrates his uncompromising creative spirit, including the inspiration for the film’s title, a circa-1988 “sound collage” he titled “Montage of Heck.” Recorded by Cobain on a four-track cassette recorder, it’s a free-form mash-up of song bites, manipulated radio recordings, elements of demos and disparate sounds created or recorded by Cobain.
Using Cobain’s artwork, photography, journals and family photographs as inspiration, the filmmakers have produced original animation to illustrate important moments in his life. Also featured are dozens of Nirvana songs and performances, as well as previously unheard Cobain originals.
“I’m extremely grateful to Courtney Love and Frances Bean Cobain for granting me unfettered access to Kurt’s possessions,” says Morgen. “There were over 200 hours of unreleased music and audio, a vast array of art projects, countless hours of home movies and over 4,000 pages of writings, which together provided a new perspective on an influential and prolific artist who rarely revealed himself to the media.”
In 1991, Seattle-based rockers Nirvana released their breakout hit, “Smells Like Teen Spirit,” taking the music world by storm with a sound that came to represent the youth of the decade. Kurt Cobain became one of the dominant voices of the era, producing songs that were an unlikely combination of nihilism and jubilation. In April 1994, Nirvana fans around the world were devastated by the news of Cobain’s suicide at age 27.
Eight years in the making, KURT COBAIN: MONTAGE OF HECK chronicles the life of the legendary musician through a lifetime’s worth of work. As a child in rural Aberdeen, Wash., Cobain was clearly gifted, as well as hypersensitive, hyperactive and relentlessly perfectionistic. With seemingly boundless creative drive, he began writing, drawing and making music at an early age.
Idealized by his mother and belittled by his father, Cobain discovered punk rock as a troubled teen. “A friend of mine…made me a couple of compilation tapes,” he remembers in an audiotaped interview. “I was completely blown away. They expressed the way I felt socially and politically. It was the anger that I felt, the alienation. And I realized that this is what I’ve always wanted to do.”
Cobain dropped out of high school shortly before graduation and worked as a janitor while trying to find an outlet for his artistic energy and emotional turmoil. “He was searching for whatever made him feel like he wasn’t alone and that he wasn’t so different,” remembers his sister, Kim Cobain.
By the time Cobain, bass player Krist Novoselic and drummer Dave Grohl were leading the northwest rock circuit, the seeds of his destruction had already taken root. Long prone to depression, Cobain began experimenting with heroin and was soon addicted. As his fame grew, so did his appetite for drugs and his self-destructive behavior.
“It’s a superficial label to put on a band that they’re going to become the next big thing without us really wanting to do it,” Cobain told a reporter at the time. “We’re prepared to destroy our careers if that happens.”
Cobain’s marriage to controversial fellow musician Courtney Love followed. Coming from a broken home and blended family, Cobain’s lifelong dream was to create the family he felt he missed out on throughout his difficult childhood. The pair made an attempt at domesticity after the birth of their only child, Frances Bean, but drama followed them everywhere they went.
Throughout his life, Cobain continued creating almost compulsively, producing work both poetic and disturbing, often manifestations of his violent dreams and fantasies. He was, in his mother’s words, on a collision course with the world.
“You see his art,” says Novoselic. “A lot of those messages are as plain as day.”
Finally, tormented by his addiction, his inexplicable but excruciating physical ailments and his own unquiet mind, Cobain was unable to escape the troubles that had haunted him since childhood, and took his own life.
KURT COBAIN: MONTAGE OF HECK had its world premiere at the 2015 Sundance Film Festival.
FEATURED IN IMAGE: Brett Morgen (Director)
Photo Credit: Brett Morgan/Courtesy of HBO
HBO Documentary Films and Universal Pictures International Entertainment Content Group in association with Public Road productions and The End of Music present KURT COBAIN: MONTAGE OF HECK. A film by Brett Morgen. Written and directed by Brett Morgen; produced by Brett Morgen and Danielle Renfrew Behrens; executive produced by Frances Bean Cobain, Larry Mestel, David Byrnes; co-executive producer, Dave Morrison; edited by Joe Beshenkovsky and Brett Morgen; sound design by Cameron Frankley and Kurt Cobain. For HBO: senior producer, Sara Bernstein; executive producer, Sheila Nevins.
