Movies - Kurt & Courtney

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	Movies - Kurt & Courtney

Kurt and Courtney is a 1998 documentary film about Kurt Cobain and Courtney Love, made by Nick Broomfield.

About the film

The film begins as an investigation of the circumstances surrounding Cobain's death and the conspiracy theories which sprung up afterwards. Cobain was legally declared to have been suicide but has been alleged by some to have been murder, in some allegations at Courtney Love's instigation.

As Broomfield investigates the claims surrounding Cobain's death, his emphasis moves from the conspiracy theories and onto an investigation of Love herself, including an accusation that she supports the suppression of free speech (she is a supporter of the ACLU) and her subsequent fame after Cobain's death.

The film was due to play the Sundance Film Festival but Love threatened to sue the festival's organisers if they screened the film. Broomfield removed all of Nirvana's music and replaced it with music from bands mainly from the Seattle area. However when shown on the BBC, the film did contain Nirvana's performance of Smells Like Teen Spirit
from Top of the Pops in 1991.

While the initial focus of the film was the alleged 'conspiracy' to murder Cobain, Courtney Love's refusal to license any of Cobain's music and her unwillingness to speak on camera was used by Broomfield as evidence of her censorship of free speech.

Music

Because of the ban on Nirvana's music, Nick Broomfield was forced to use various other bands from the US Pacific North West. Notable amongst these were Rozz Rezabek, (Courtney Love's former lover) and the Theater of Sheep, Earth and Napalm Beach.

Synopsis

The film begins with a recap of Cobain's death and the media coverage which followed. Broomfield then interviews Cobain's aunt Mary who helped his love for music when he was a child. This interview is followed up with several from friends and schoolteachers who knew Cobain when he was growing up before moving onto Cobain's relationship with Love and Cobain's death.

After establishing the background the film moves on to detail the accusation's that Cobain may have not killed himself and was in fact murdered. Broomfield interviews Tom Grant, a private investigator who has alleged that Love conspired to kill her husband, as well as Hank Harrison, (Courtney Love's father) who also believes that Cobain was killed in a conspiracy organised by Love. Broomfield also interviews controversial musician El Duce, who claims that Courtney Love offered him US$50,000 to kill Kurt Cobain, an offer that he declined. Two days after that interview was filmed, El Duce was killed in a train accident.

Eventually Broomfield moves away from the alleged conspiracy and the film turns into an investigation of Courtney Love's alleged supression of free speech. Included in the film are phone calls from MTV saying that they were pulling out of financing the film (the film was completed thanks to financing from private investors and the BBC)due to presumed pressure from Love. Broomfield attempts to build a case against Love and in doing so interviews ex-boyfriend Rozz Rezabek and her father Hank Harrison in order to establish her as always being hungry for fame at any cost.

There is also an interview with journalist Victoria Clarke (who wrote the book Nirvana: Flower Sniffin', Kitty Pettin', Baby Kissin' Corporate Rock Whores with Britt Collins) about how Love and Cobain had threatened her while doing research for her book on Cobain and Nirvana. Broomfield includes clips of the threats made by Cobain in and film and Clarke details the story of Love assaulting her.

The film concludes with Broomfield taking the stage at an ACLU meeting (where Love is a guest speaker) in order to publically question Love about her attempts to supress free speech and the irony of her representing the ACLU. He is pulled from the stage by Danny Goldberg, Cobain's former manager. Broomfield concludes that there is not enough evidence to prove that Cobain was murdered but was instead driven to killing himself.

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