Kurt & Courtney
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n o t e s
  A documentary directed by Nick Broomfield.  Home video versions were released in 1998.

Footage about Smart Studios has been edited out of some versions.

Debuted on the BBC in December 1997.  Theatrical debuts: IMDb.

See below for a review.

 Format   Label   Catalog #   Origin   Official
 VHS   BMG   BMGV804903   USA   Y
  Rental version.
 
 VHS   BMG   BMGV804903   USA   Y
  Promo of rental version.
 
 VHS   DownTown Pictures Ltd.   KC001   UK   Y
   
 
 VHS   Dutch Film Works   PAV94614   Holland   Y
   
 
 VHS   Fox Lorber       USA   Y
  Buy at Amazon
 
 LD   Fox Lorber   ???   USA   Y
   
 
 DVD   Fox Lorber   FLV 5128   USA   Y
  Region 1.
 


r e v i e w
  By nirvanadiscography.com
  • It's hard to describe this documentary because it's essentially an incomplete work, at least that's the feeling I had after watching the home video.  Broomfield wasn't allowed to include early sound recordings, he lost financing during filming, and some of the interviews were with people on the periphery, seemingly of little use.  Whether it's incomplete is debatable, though, because I'm not sure where this movie was headed; was it simply going to be a movie about the marriage of popular rock stars or was it to be the video version of Who Killed Kurt Cobain?  I don't know.

    Although this won't go down as a "must see" in the video history of Nirvana, it can be amusing at times and a couple of interviews are nice.

    The good: Interviews with Cobain's aunt Mari Earl and ex-girlfriend Tracy Marander are interesting.  If Broomfield had stuck to this kind of material, he may have had a winner.

    The bad: Well, let's start with the interviews that didn't produce much of anything but chuckles and boredom.  Dylan Carlson seemed pretty skittish on his way to becoming the star of the movie with plenty of face time and songs from his band Earth playing in the background.  This was Plan B since Courtney Love wouldn't allow Broomfield to use recordings such as those Mari Earl has.

    Interviews with the WKKC? authors and Hank Harrison seem to indicate that Broomfield was more than willing to go down the murder theory road, but if that was the case then he wasted too much time building a case by interviewing people that couldn't provide useful information in such an investigation.

    Related to that, the segment featuring El Duce and his buddy, a pimp, were entertaining.  El Duce is quite a character, the most memorable in the movie -- he may be the only reason to watch the movie more than once.

    It's also amusing to watch Broomfield get kicked out of the Washington State Lottery's lobby and an awards show in which he crashed the stage to announce what he thought of Love.  And the weirdest thing besides El Duce has to be the two guys that go undercover to gain access to a Hole rehearsal and try to get Love on camera before the aforementioned awards show.

    There are other interviews, but to be honest most are so bland I've forgotten whom the people were or what they had to say.

    Recommendation: Buy a used copy, or rent it first to decide if you need to own the movie.  Without the early sound recordings, there is very little in the 90+ minutes (except El Duce!) that you absolutely must own.

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