Frances Cobain lauds ‘Montage’
Director Brett Morgen looked genuinely surprised when Frances Bean Cobain asked to take the stage while he was introducing his new HBO documentary, “Kurt Cobain: Montage of Heck,” about the Nirvana frontman. With ink-black hair and her father’s piercing blue eyes, Frances Cobain uncannily resembled the screen-sized image of the late musician that loomed over fans waiting for the L.A. premiere at the Egyptian Theatre in Hollywood.
“The reason I wanted to come here,” said Frances Cobain, an executive producer on the film, was that “after seeing it, I thought I could only watch it once. But the film that [Morgen] made — I didn’t know Kurt, but he would be exceptionally proud of it. It touches some dark subjects, but it provides a basic understanding of who he was as a human, and that’s been lost.”
For the hundreds of fans in the crowd Tuesday night, there was a palpable little shock when she called her father by his first name. Considering that Frances Cobain wasn’t even 2 at the time of her father’s suicide, he’s more an idea than someone she knew.
Morgen said he hoped “Montage of Heck” would add something humane to a story of celebrity self-destruction and the toll of stardom on a vulnerable artist.
As a documentary director, he said, “there’s no greater gift than trust and respect, and this is one of the greatest gifts ever bestowed upon me.”
The film opens in limited theatrical release Friday and premieres on HBO on May 4.