Rating summary

Movie		4.5
Video		4.0
Audio		4.5
Extras		3.5
Overall		4.5

Kurt Cobain: About a Son Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov November 12, 2009

Assembled from more than twenty five hours of audiotaped conversations recorded by journalist Michael Azerrad for his book "Come As You Are: The Story of Nirvana", AJ Schnack's documentary "Kurt Cobain About a Son" (2006) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Sidetrack Films/Shout Factory. The disc also includes selected scene commentary by director AJ Schnack, the featurette "The Voices Behind About a Son", and "On location: Scouting video to scene comparison". Not subtitled in English. Region-A "locked".

"It is sad to think what the state of Rock & Roll would be twenty years from now"

I was traveling across Europe when the news about Kurt Cobain’s suicide broke. At first, many thought that it was a hoax. Then, as some of the major European news networks began airing footage from different U.S. reports, people started realizing what had really happened. It was a truly surreal experience. A good friend of mine told me that his son flew to Seattle to attend a vigil.

I mention all of the above because even today, I remain convinced that in America a lot of people do not realize what Nirvana and their music meant to millions of people around the world. The grunge movement, and specifically the bands that were responsible for the so called "Seattle sound" - Pearl Jam, Alice in Chains, Soundgarden, Mudhoney, 7 Year Bitch, Mad Season, Temple of the Dog, The Melvins, Gas Huffer, Screaming Trees - changed people’s perceptions about a region, country, an entire generation. Yes, their music was angry and explicit, but it was honest, and that is why many embraced it.

Of course, it was only a matter of time before corporate America stepped in and destroyed everything - the movement, the music, people’s faith that they could trust their idols. Grunge became mainstream and everything that was associated with it became a hot commodity. One could walk into a store on Fifth Avenue in New York City and buy a flannel shirt.

Kurt Cobain About a Son is a fascinating documentary about the grunge movement’s brightest star. It is comprised of long audiotaped conversations (according to the back cover of this Blu-ray disc, assembled from approximately twenty five hours of taped material), which journalist Michael Azerrad gathered for his book Come As You Are: The Story of Nirvana.

The documentary is divided into three chapters - Aberdeen, Olympia, and Seattle - each representing an important fragment of Cobain's life. In Aberdeen, he talks about his family, his early fascination with punk rock and the provincial mentality reigning in his home town. During a number of the taped conversations, Cobain also mentions the quiet anger that was torturing his soul - fueled by his fear that his life would end up being as predictable and dreary as the lives of the people he met on a daily basis.

In Olympia, Cobain talks primarily about his desire to have a band and play the music he loved, his expectations that the city would offer him the type of culture he missed in Aberdeen, the people he met. It was a brand new world for Cobain - a utopian world of sorts in which he felt safe, capable of sharing his passion with other people.

In the third and final chapter, Cobain recall his decision to relocate to the city of Seattle, his relationship with the owners of the notorious Sub Pop Records, his first encounter with Courtney Love during a show in Portland, Oregon in 1989, as well as their consequent marriage, and the impact drugs had on his life. In many of the taped conversations, the late rock star also talks about his struggle with depression, the pain he had to endure, how success irreversibly changed his life.

Towards the very end of the documentary, Cobain utters: "It is sad to think what the state of Rock & Roll would be twenty years from now. It just seems like when Rock & Roll is dead, the whole world is gonna explode. It is already so rehashed, so plagiarized, that it is barely alive now. It is disgusting." These are some eerie words. Cobain's body was discovered at his Seattle-area home on April, 8 1994 - think about what has happened to Rock & Roll since then, and, more importantly, how the world we live in changed!

Kurt Cobain About a Son is directed by AJ Schnack and produced by Shirley Moyers. The documentary features a wonderful ambient soundtrack by Steve Fisk and Benjamin Gibbard, as well as original songs by Queen ("It's Late"), Creedence Clearwater Revival ("Up Around the Bend"), Butthole Surfers ("Graveyard"), David Bowie ("The Man Who Sold the World"), Mudhoney ("Touch Me I’m Sick"), Iggy Pop ("The Passenger"), The Melvins ("Eye Flys"), The Vaselines ("Son of a Gun"), and more.

Kurt Cobain: About a Son Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Presented in an aspect ratio of 1:78:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, AJ Schnack's Kurt Cobain About a Son arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Sidetrack Films/Shout Factory.

There is plenty of different footage used in this terrific documentary. As revealed by its creators in the supplemental materials provided on the disc, for each of the three locations where the film was shot - Aberdeen, Olympia and Seattle - different film stock was used. There are a couple of very interesting animated sequences that are included in the film as welll. As a result, it is indeed rather difficult to talk about consistency in terms of detail, clarity and contrast. Still, Kurt Cobain About a Son certainly looks very strong in 1080p. There are most certainly no post-production anomalies that I detected - from the original footage to the many archival stills, everything looks great. There are a few tiny flecks that I noticed but other than that, the actual transfer is spotless. (Note: This is a Region-A "locked" Blu-ray disc. Therefore, in order to access its content, you must have a native Region-A or Region-Free player).

Kurt Cobain: About a Son Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

There are two audio tracks on this Blu-ray disc: English Dolby TrueHD 5.1 and English Dolby Digital 2.0. I opted for the English Dolby TrueHD 5.1 track and later on did a few random comparisons for the purpose of this review.

Kurt Cobain About a Son is complimented by an excellent ambient soundtrack - courtesy of Steve Fiskand and Benjamin Gibbard - that sounds outstanding via the Dolby TrueHD 5.1 track. Beautiful guitar and piano solos give the film a very unique meditative quality (this is the only way I could describe it). Sure, this is not an audio track that would in any way test the muscles of your system, but those of you who appreciate quality sound, and, more importantly, pay attention to detail, will surely be impressed with it. On the other hand, the dialog is crisp, clear and surprisingly easy to follow (the actual taped conversations that are used in the film are of very high quality).

The English Dolby Digital 2.0 track is certainly acceptable - one could easily follow the conversations - but the depth of the English Dolby TrueHD 5.1 track is obviously missing. The wonderful music score, in particular, is far less effective.

For the record, Sidetrack Films/Shout Factory have not provided optional English subtitles for the main feature.

Kurt Cobain: About a Son Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

The Voices Behind About a Son - co-producer and author Michael Azerrad, director AJ Schnack, producer Shirley Moyers, cinematographer Wyatt Troll, photographer Charles Peterson, and composer and music producer Steve Fisk talk about the message of the film, the myth of Kurt Cobain, the legacy he left behind. (14 min, 480/60i).

Commentary - a selected scene commentary by director AJ Schnack. The gentleman talks about some of the ideas and decisions that went into the film, the specific meaning of the footage used in the film, etc. (18 min, 480/60i).

On location: Scouting video to scene comparison - in the months before shooting of the film began, director Aj Schnack made several trips to Washington State and shot plenty of footage; most of it is shown here. (9 min, 480/60i).

Kurt Cobain: About a Son Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

A fantastic yet very sad documentary! It delivers a poignant and realistic portrait of a true icon. Sidetrack Films/Shout Factory's Blu-ray treatment is excellent. I particularly enjoyed Steve Fisk and Benjamin Gibbard's soundtrack, it's terrific! I cannot recommend Kurt Cobain About a Son highly enough!