Conspiracies and Kurt and Courtney

Writing about Loose Change the other day got me thinking about one of my favorite documentaries, Kurt and Courtney. The two films are similar in that they deal with a conspiracy - however Kurt and Courtney is not actually arguing against or in favor of one. I think the documentary is often misunderstood, but I don't think for a minute director Nick Broomfield is interested in trying to prove Courtney Love's responsibility for the death of her husband. Broomfield's next film - Biggie and Tupac is far more concerned with getting down to the bottom of an actual mystery. Kurt and Courtney is more a Michael Moore-style personal journey that ultimately ends with a critique of our culture.

Broomfield structures the narrative with himself as lead - a naive, British filmmaker, who just wants to make a film about Kurt Cobain. He introduces Kurt through old interviews and seeks out those who knew him in his youth. Kurt is described as a troubled, yet brilliant artist, who overcame the hardships of his youth to find success that ultimately would destroy him. But Kurt is not really too important to the story. Kurt is simply a launching pad for Broomfield to dive into the deepest and ugliest depths of America. He meets Courtney Love's father, who introduces the idea that she had Kurt murdered. Its important to note here that Broomfield can be the meanest of documentary filmmakers - he doesn't care how you look and he won't edit you down, instead allowing his subjects to ramble and ultimately sound like idiots. Courtney's father probably comes off the worst of anybody, but no one else (except for Kurt's aunt) fares much better.

Supposedly learning of the Cobain murder theory, he then finds a pair of celebrity journalists ("Stalkerazzi" they are called). The two are quite bumbling and twice fail in an attempt to confront Courtney with a question on the issue. They lead Broomfield out to Riverside, California to "El Duce" - a hitman who claimed Courtney offered him 50 grand to "blow his fucking head off." Later we meet a private investigator whose gone deep into debt trying to prove Courtney's guilt. Throughout the film - while he repeatedly announces Courtney's threats to halt the film's production - Broomfield seems very skeptical of the actual theory.

This leads us to the point of the film. Whether or not you think Courtney had Kurt killed is irrelevant, becuase Broomfield pegs the killer elsewhere. He portrays Kurt in this innocent light, but every attempt to make a film about him lead down these dark and exploitative paths. Thus, Broomfield is asking if this gossip-driven, celebrity obsessed culture is toxic. In fact, he is really begging the question, did WE kill Kurt Cobain?