Kurt & Courtney (1998)

This engrossing documentary introduces the viewer to some of the scariest, saddest, and just plain old-fashioned weirdest people ever put on celluloid. These people, and their relationship to Cobain and Love, are the heart of the film. We meet Kurt's strung-out best friend, whose drug haze might have hastened Kurt's death; Courtney's first rock star boyfriend, who still harbors bitter resentment toward her; their daughter's last nanny, a frightened young girl who may know more than she is saying; and, in a most disturbing interview, Il Duce, a man who has his own death metal band (The Mentors) and claims Love hired him to kill Cobain. All of the interviews allow the audience to learn more about Kurt and Courtney, both as individuals and as a couple, while simultaneously painting a vivid picture of the milieu in which the couple lived. Viewers get a strong sense of Cobain's sadness and of Love's anger. Because Broomfield worked without Love's assistance, no Nirvana music is included in the film. Fortunately, the lack of music does not harm the film, as its focus is the lives of the artists and not the art itself. In addition to the oral history of the couple, Broomfield documents the efforts he claims Love made to stop the financing for this film. Viewers are privy to a phone conversation in which MTV withdraws their support from the film. This resolves itself in a stunning moment when Broomfield takes the microphone at an ACLU dinner honoring Love and questions why that institution would honor a woman trying to stop his First Amendment rights to free speech. Broomfield skillfully presents his subjects and their world. The great accomplishment of Kurt & Courtney is that the film would work just as powerfully if one knew nothing at all about its subjects. ~ Perry Seibert, All Movie Guide