Foo Fighters’ frontman and final drummer of Nirvana, Dave Grohl had a sick feeling in his stomach when his wife found HBO’s airing of the Kurt Cobain documentary Montage of Heck. He couldn’t bear to watch the whole thing, lasting through 10 minutes of the middle of the film. He rolled over and went to sleep.
“All the footage of him as a child, I think that might make me sad,” he told The Washington Post. “And then the dark stuff at the end I think would bum me out.”
Even though he was interviewed, Grohl does not appear in the film’s final cut. The director of the film Brett Morgan said he “didn’t think [he] needed two people from Nirvana” and “was fine locking picture with Krist [Novoselic]”.
The death of Cobain has been seen as one of the most tragic in the history of music. Part of the 27 Club, Cobain’s suicide touched many in the music business, so it’s not surprise that it would be very hard for any of his loved ones to watch the film. The Melvins’ Buzz Osborne had a different reaction to the film, penning a fiery essay saying “90% of Montage of Heck is bullshit”.
While Cobain’s former partner Courtney Love supports this film, there is another documentary that she is not happy with. Soaked In Bleach accused Love of “orchestrating the death of her husband Kurt Cobain.”
If you are still interested in Montage Of Heck, despite these reactions, you can watch the trailer and an interview with Morgan below.