I watched this "documentary" without any preconceived ideas about Cobain and Nirvana. I know their music and about Cobain's death, but I followed their story from a distance. The documentary is unsatisfactory, mostly because of the uneven pace, the length and the feeling that the people involved just tried to justify themselves.The story stars slow, with some sweet (and heartbreaking) footage of baby Kurt, interspersed with interviews with his mother, father and stepmother. I knew little about Cobain's life, but I had the impression the three of them tried to justify their actions even before they mentioned that in his teenage years Kurt was shipped back and forward in his family circle, because he was "difficult". His dad and stepmother looked weird, while his mother looked like an older version of Courtney Love (not a compliment).The story includes animated parts of Kurt's journals, photos, artwork, home movies and even some animated "reconstruction" of moments in Kurt's life.The technique is interesting, but there is way too much of it, especially the animated journal, showing the handwritten words forming very quickly. It is a non-stop struggle trying to read the text. Also, most of Cobain's artwork is quite violent and depressing.When it reaches the point of Cobain living with girlfriend Tracy and then forming Nirvana, the pace of the story changes. Enter Courtney Love and the rest is basically about her. We're shown plenty of home movies, with the allegedly happy couple in various stages of undress, looking filthy and living in squalor. Then more footage with baby Frances, in the same settings and nudity, with an increasingly emaciated Cobain and Love showing her tits. As mentioned by another reviewer, that was totally irrelevant, since I wanted to know Cobain's story and cared nothing about Love's tits.With the hijack of Courtney Love, the story takes a turn for the worse and seems to drag on forever. Love also does a lot of justifying, especially about the notorious Vanity Fair interview. She admits to using heroin while pregnant, as if it is perfectly normal. Dave Grohl is not interviewed, while Novoselic gives a couple of anodyne statements. The end is quite abrupt and leaves out the final weeks. I guess a touchy topic for the widow….Whatever happened, Cobain seemed sensitive, artistic and fragile man, certainly not a happy guy. He had the misfortune of growing up in a chaotic family and falling for the wrong woman. Some say that life is the narrative we tell ourselves about the events that happened to us. Unfortunately Cobain told himself a sad, violent and ultimately tragic story.

The entire time I was watching this I just wanted to cry. I could not believe not even his daughter (who he adored, there are more pictures of Kurt and Frances than there are with Courtney and Frances, also, the expression on the face of Kurt while with Frances was lit up and beaming with pride, not the case with her mother). How could she allow this humiliation of her father who loved her more than anything on earth?? I felt it was a low down, dirty attempt to make the people who still love Kurt to this day, somehow not love him anymore because look 'he was a junkie' or he was not happy living with his 'wife' and wanted a divorce, so let's turn that into he was 'suicidal', instead of what it was, he wanted away from her and he wanted custody of his daughter. If you are at all a fan of Kurt you will steer clear of this humiliating, exploitation of Kurt. Courtney must be needing money or this was a sad attempt to dirty the minds of people who might watch Soaked In Bleach (the REAL documentary dealing with FACTS only) the one she sent letters to theaters threatening to sue if they showed it.

Just the mere fact, that Cobain (and others) have filmed a lot of stuff (which is used without further comment and is there for the viewer to evaluate and examine and draw conclusions from), which is used in this documentary, make it really essential. Especially if you were a fan. But even if you weren't or just want to find out who this Cobain was, this is the place to start and find out.It's as conclusive as it gets. I don't think you can get more or better inside ones head, than it's shown here. There's of course foul language and themes that might not be suitable for children. But if you get intimate with a person (I shouldn't forget about the nudity on display here too), you're bound to see and hear things, that some might judge as unsafe for kids to watch.Very thorough, with many interviews and a lot of private time with a man, who seemed to feel doomed ...

Some will complain that the documentary doesn't focus enough on Nirvana, and there's a very good reason for that. It's not a documentary about Nirvana; the film is intended to provide a more intimate look at Kurt Cobain as a person and provide insight into his more private and guarded moments. In that respect it is pretty successful. Nirvana's history is very well publicised, and the film assumes it's viewers are already fans that know a lot about the band (Why else would you watch a movie about the band's frontman?) The films biggest selling point is that for the first time a director had the full cooperation of Cobain's family and access to the archive of materials he left behind, much of it had never been seen by the public eye before. These include home movies dating back to him as baby, behind the scene footage, and audio recordings. There is also going to be a companion book dedicated to never before seen photos and other materials that were unearthed. Unfortunately, it's not as exciting as it sounds. There may have been information I had never heard before, but none of it was surprising or profound. It all falls in line with what you would expect if you knew anything about Kurt going in. (I'm sure some people will disagree and say they found it shocking, but I didn't.) That being said the archival materials were well utilized and had a good presentation that fit into the story that was being told. It was nice to see them even if it was an over- hyped aspect of the movie.From a technical standpoint the film really is a marvel. The animated transitions were a great way to incorporate the drawings and doodles that littered Kurt's notebooks. There are also scenes featuring puppetry and stop motion that are also inspired by his art and/or song lyrics. These are all really cool and actually provide more insight to his artistic style and writing process than you would think. Additionally, several segments are entirely animated, and they look beautiful. Doing this is much more captivating than just just showing people talk about events or have a voice-over with a slideshow of pictures. It was a very good choice, and adds a lot to the viewing experience. The film's soundtrack features live Nirvana recordings, covers and remixes, as well as music by other artist that fit the scenes, such as the Buddy Holly song that plays over his parents home movies from the '60s. This is well executed and I particularly love the violin rendition of "Smell Like Teen Spirit" that was used to mimic an orchestral score in the longest animated sequence. Overall the film is an energetic and seemingly honest look at Kurt Cobain and the man he was. It was well made, entertaining, and a worthwhile documentary that stands head and shoulders above any other documentaries about him.