In Montage of Heck, filmmaker Brett Morgen uses personal sketchbooks and videos of Kurt Cobain's, and combines them with animation that matches Cobain’s own aesthetic. There’s also footage of Nirvana and interviews with family, but what carries the film is the access it gives viewers to Cobain’s tumultuous life and unique genius.
Viewing an intimate record of a brilliant person whose life spun wildly out of control comes at a price, however. Morgen’s animated additions give the film artistic vision, but they don’t muffle the looming wonder we may have as we witness something that isn’t actually meant for us. I like this documentary because I like the subject. And yet I also dislike this documentary because the subject appears to have been inadvertently bamboozled by the keepers of his legacy--keepers who have kept very little of Cobain’s tragic final weeks safe from display.