Kurt Cobain About A Son DVD Giveaway
I’m pretty certain we still have alot of Nirvana and Kurt Cobain fans out there that would love to get their hands on this one. We have some copies of About A Son, the new documentary, to give away here on The Futurist. But first, a bit about the film, and since I have yet to see it myself, I found this description helpful……
Following in the deeply idiosyncratic footsteps of Last Days, About a Son plays more like autobiography than documentary. Gus Van Sant’s feature extrapolates moments from the life of Kurt Cobain (with Michael Pitt as a musician named Blake), while A.J. Schnack’s non-fiction film adheres closer to the facts, but advances a more radical Koyaanisqatsi-like approach. First off, Cobain supplies the narration, but the filmmaker avoids pictures of the alternative icon until the end. (He culled the voice-over from interviews conducted by author Michael Azerrad for Come as You Are: The Story of Nirvana.) Beyond-the-grave narration isn’t a new concept–see Tupac: Resurrection–but Schnack (Gigantic: A Tale of Two Johns) ups the ante by excluding talking heads, concert footage, and other staples of the genre. Instead, he uses still and time-lapse photography to explore Cobain’s Northwest, i.e. Aberdeen, Olympia, and Seattle. The artist’s unguarded reflections create a sense of intimacy as specific locations illustrate his words. Conversely, the lack of portraiture and self-penned music generates a feeling of absence. The soundtrack combines an ambient score from producer Steve Fisk and Death Cab for Cutie’s Ben Gibbard with Cobain favorites, like David Bowie, Cheap Trick, and the Vaselines (available on a separate CD). For more specifics, interested parties can always turn to tomes by Azerrad, Gina Arnold, Charles R. Cross, and Everett True. About a Son doesn’t presume to provide a definitive portrait, but Schnack’s rigorous avoidance of convention results in an experience far more dream-like than depressing. –Kathleen C. Fennessy
In addition, here is the trailer for the film.
To win a copy of this DVD, give a short description of your feelings when you heard of Cobain’s death. I know many of us remember it well.
Good luck!
February 27th, 2008 at 11:06 am
I guess it was just a sort of melancholic thing for me. I don’t remember being totally devastated when I heard about it. I just felt sad for his daughter and bummed that his life ended the way it did. I started listening to my Nirvana discs a lot more, which took on a different sort of meaning.
February 27th, 2008 at 11:39 am
I remember my family was coming back from a spring break vacation in Florida and I read it in a USA Today. (Romantic, eh?) I remember that Pearl Jam was mentioned as Nirvana’s “rival band”, which was basically never true.
It made it pretty much impossible to listen to any of Nirvana’s music. Yet by the point Kurt passed, so many other acts had co-opted the sound that you could find the band on the radio in the voices of others without even trying.
February 27th, 2008 at 12:35 pm
I was a senior in high school at the time, and a big fan. I remember hearing the news on the radio in the car with my mom.
It just didn’t seem real, but at the same time it didn’t surprise me very much. Something about Kurt always seemed not quite right for the world. The music definitely changed a lot that day.
February 27th, 2008 at 12:36 pm
I think it’s sad whenever anyone feels they don’t have any other options than suicide. I can’t say I was surprised though. I never really bought into that “voice of a generation” label, but I did feel the loss of something that I felt was distinctly part of my generation.
February 27th, 2008 at 4:06 pm
I remember feeling really selfish because my immediate reaction was pissed that I wouldn’t see Nirvana live anymore. Nirvana was scheduled to play Lollapolooza that summer and I was planning on attending the show.
February 27th, 2008 at 5:22 pm
I was in 5th grade and spent the next 7 years writing Nirvana lyrics on my backpack and doing every report possible on Kurt Cobain.
February 28th, 2008 at 12:41 am
I was in 8th grade. My friend and I were over at my cousin’s house tinkering with our RC cars. We had MTV on in the other room and I remember seeing Kurt Loder abruptly cutting in and announcing that Kurt Cobain was dead. As your typical Nirvana fan, I was devastated, sickened and in denial at the same time.
I shelved all of my Nirvana CDs and didn’t pull them out for a LONG time. I simply found it too creepy to hear his voice. The first Nirvana I willfully listened to again was when ‘Unplugged’ was released that fall. By that time I was ready to rediscover and enjoy Nirvana all over again… but it was still weird.
February 28th, 2008 at 4:10 pm
I was in 10th grade when it happened. I had come home from school about 2:45pm and had sat down with a snack when I flipped on the TV and saw Kurt Loder with an MTV News breaking story… “Kurt Cobain found dead.” The words hung in the air and I was in total disbelief. I wasn’t the biggest Nirvana fan (I was more in the Pearl Jam camp), but I was still moved by this loss and knew that it was bigger than just another musician passing away.
After the news sunk in, my thoughts turned to my friend Kevin, who was the biggest Nirvana fanatic in my high school. He was pretty distraught upon hearing the news and didn’t come to school for a few days. Some people thought it was silly that Kevin was that affected, but I saw it as a testament to Kurt and Nirvana’s music that they could tap into somebody’s feelings and really move them. Not many bands in my lifetime have been able to do that; I hope that endures as Nirvana’s legacy.
February 28th, 2008 at 4:22 pm
I have to add, the following Sunday I was watching “60 Minutes” with my parents and Andy Rooney addressed Kurt’s suicide during his segment. He said that he’d never heard of Kurt Cobain or Nirvana and was dumbfounded by what all the hubbub was about in regards to his passing. We went on to criticize Kurt’s committing suicide with a remark that people our age don’t have that much to be upset about because we didn’t have to deal with The Great Depression, WWII, and Vietnam. His comments illustrated to me how vast the generation gap had become and his belittling Kurt’s suicide REALLY pissed me off.
February 28th, 2008 at 11:00 pm
my dad told me. he didn’t even know who nirvana was but he had heard the news on A.M. radio and was going to leave it on my answering machine. when he called it was mid-day, i was hungover beyond repair and had been in my own catatonic state with a girlfriend. where i lived was an old industrial building and in it we had built these high lofts with cat walks that could be a little treacherous. it was sunny out and i should have been at work but instead i braved the heights and answered the phone. i could tell he was surprised to find me there and wasn’t too sure what i was into in those days. it was all very empty feeling but fitting and sad.
March 1st, 2008 at 6:51 pm
It was the same reaction I had when I learned that Princess Diana died. I knew something really important just happened, but there was no way I could wrap my mind about its consequences.
March 1st, 2008 at 6:54 pm
I was about 12 at the time and not into rock/grunge back then, but I remember finding it very sad and shocking.
March 6th, 2008 at 8:26 am
I felt devastated. The “no ground under” feeling you experience when someone you really like passes away.
I remember being a teenager, school full of dumb and alienated people, caring so much about brands, clothes, perfect haircuts, and stuff like that.
Being a Nirvana fan used to make me feel like I was normal.
Kurt was my heroe at the time. I dont believe in this “spokesmand for Generation X” talk. He was just a simple, honest man. With his problems, like anyone else. And his death left a big empty.
March 8th, 2008 at 11:22 am
By the way, this seems to be way nicer than Gus Van Sant’s Last Days, which I found very depressing.
March 19th, 2008 at 1:07 pm
I recalled wondering if this was my “John Lennon” moment, or my “Buddy Holly, Richie Valenz & the Big Bopper” moment.
I think that in the world of a young fan of Rock & Roll music, a plane crash in the ’50s, a crazed gunman in 1980 and a suicide in the 90s, all kind of reach the same tragedy level as “youth culture” grows less and less innocent.
Makes me wonder who the next moment will belong to, and what dark corner of life will do them in.