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Last Days [2005]


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Editorial
Synopsis

Inspired by the true story of Kurt Cobain, the lead singer of the popular Seattle-based rock band Nirvana who committed suicide in 1994, director Gus Van Sant (ELEPHANT) presents this meditative journey through the last days in the life of fictional musician Blake (Michael Pitt). In a bewildered state of drug withdrawal, Blake stumbles through deep woods groaning and mumbling quietly. His words are only occasionally coherent, and even less occasionally audible. Thus, the focus is on Blake's tortured, slow-motion movements and his tangle of chin-length blond hair, which hangs like a mask over his face. Reaching a clearing, Blake enters a dilapidated mansion where he lives with four similarly confused young rockers. A string of foggy events follows in partially chronological order. Scenes overlap, allowing for minor details to be added later. This style hints at the insignificance of time and of everything from Blake's perspective. Avoiding human contact, taking long walks, playing music, and hiding in the greenhouse, Blake nears his inevitable end. He digs up a parcel from the backyard, smokes a cigarette and painstakingly pours a bowl of Cocoa Krispies, changes into a black evening gown and grabs a rifle, answers the phone and says nothing when a voice asks him about an upcoming tour. Blake then descends into a bizarre, barely conscious state during which people come and go from the house. But none of it seems to register, as he is already lost. LAST DAYS finds melancholic beauty in green trees reflecting in window panes, and the sound of rippling lake water echoing the ambient noise in Blake's head; and Pitt shows chameleon expertise in his mutely charismatic depiction of the unreachable Blake, whose resemblance to Cobain is both haunting and magical.


93 minutes of my life that I want back
Review date: 2008-08-07 Rating: 2 out of 10

This is the story of the last days of Kurt Cobain's life. Though he can't really be called Kurt Cobain, because Courtney might sue. So we have him depicted as Blake- a successful rock star who just wants to be left alone. He urinates in a stream, he eats noodles and he runs away whenever he sees someone at his door. His house is populated with hangers-on and drug-fiends, and just in case you didn't get that- the song Heroin by The Velvet Underground plays. Blake is depressed and cannot be bothered with life- but he has more costume changes than a Mariah Carey concert here. Remember Kurt in the red and black striped sweater? He wears it in the film. Remember him in the black dress? He wears it in the film. The hunting cap? Yep! He wears it here. This film is so incredibly tedious that it almost becomes offensive. It is as if the director has tried to mirror Kurt's obvious depression and boredom in the film-making. We even get a 30 second shot of a tree at one point- for no apparent reason. Let me get this out of the way- I am a huge Nirvana fan. I am a huge fan of movies. I prefer slow, thoughtful films over Hollywood blockbusters. All I ask from a director is that he move me in some way. Any way! Make me laugh a little. Make me cry. Make me gasp in awe just once at how beautifully framed a shot is. If the rest is substandard I can forgive them, as long as there is something to justify me having sat through their movie. Just do something within 93 minutes that I can take away with me. The main problem is this: There isn't a story here. Kurt Cobain's last few days: He ate, he shot up, he fell over and he shot himself. That is it. Don't offend me by trying to pass this off as something arty and thoughtful. It's easy to say that if someone doesn't like this film then they just didn't get it. It's their fault. They were expecting somthing more conventional like 'Ray' or 'Walk The Line'. No. Chances are that if you're gonna see this film then you're going to expect something different than your average biopic. I had heard going into that it was tedious, boring and pointless, but I was willing to give it a chance anyway. What you get is an hour and a half of pretensious waffle. There has been some criticisms aimed at this film that there is not enough dialogue. Wrong. There is too much. The man from the Yellow Pages? The hangers-on? Blake reading aloud his suicide note- just in case we didn't get the idea that that's what he was writing? It's all surplus. I could have congratulated a film where the camera lingered solely on the Blake character and showed us no-one else. I could have even accepted his Beavis and Butthead mumblings to himself. What I cannot accept is a film filled with bad dialogue, bad acting and such obvious references to the real life Kurt whilst staunchly denying that it is based on him. My wife turned to me ten minutes into the film. She said "This is really tedious". I told her to give it a chance. Not much long afterwards I was willing Blake to hurry up and blow his brains out. Truly one of the worst films I have ever had the misfortune to have paid to watch. There is an interesting story about the life of Kurt Cobain that would make a half decent film if made by even the most cack-handed of directors. This isn't it. Why didn't Oliver Stone just make The Doors about the last days of Jim Morrison's life? Because it would have been boring. Instead he showed us the more interesting moments that peppered his short stay on this Earth. Personally, I think it would be a mistake to make a biopic about Kurt Cobain, but if it happens I can guarantee that it will make an infinitely more interesting film than this one.

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Reviews


Totally worth a try
Review date: 2008-08-02 Rating: 10 out of 10

While the "Last Days" of Kurt Cobain's life probably did not involve gay sex in his house, the thought that Gus Van Sant was trying to make an accurate account of what did actually happen is stupid, because this film is very LOOSELY based on what happened and that's why it's so .. weird.

HOWEVER, I think it's a great, great movie, because it is well shot, well acted and at times very funny. It's slow-paced, sure, their is very little plot, who cares? People should just relax and watch Michael Pitt's brilliant performance, the songs he plays are amazing, the dialogue is very entertaining when it wants to be (eg. the "riddle of Chung Ling Fu", or the two "visit" scenes, with the missionaries and the Yellow Book salesman) and some of the little nuances of it - like when he puts the cereal in the fridge instead of the milk, are very funny! Seriously! Of course, it's "artistic" and "experimental" blah blah blah, but the important bit is that Gus Van Sant is celebrating his freedom as a filmmaker the whole way through and there is nothing more inspiring to see in a film than that.

Plus there are cool cameos by Thurston Moore (who sings a Velvet Underground song) and Kim Gordon (playing Blake's wife) from Sonic Youth, and Michael Pitt gives a neat show. Clearly not to everyone's taste, but if you like this film, chances are you'll like it a lot, so for that reason everyone should give it a try.

What a waste of time!
Review date: 2008-07-10 Rating: 2 out of 10

Let's just say that the one and only good scene in the so called "movie", is where the actor is trying to sing a song and immitate Cobain, and just for a few seconds he's really doing it.

Other than that, it's a ***** movie and I wish I could have my 1.5 euros back that I spend on renting it. I also wonder how did the director convinced Kim Gordon to play that small part.

Oh God, just leave him alone.

noodles
Review date: 2008-05-01 Rating: 4 out of 10

Highlights of the film for me:-
1. The kurt character making noodles
2. The kurt character making cocoa pops
3. The start of a meaningless gay sex scene
4. Seeing a womans bum

But seriously -

The worst thing about the film is that every character in it apart from blake is completely useless/pointless. The interaction between blake and these characters is too unreal, im sure that these kind of conversations/interactions never happened anywhere ever to anyone in history. The woman from sonic youth annoyed me too-but thats another story.

I get the feeling that anyone who was actually close to kurt, would think this film ridiculous and embarassing, and I think kurt would feel massively patronised if he saw this.(i know its not kurt its a fictional character called blake etc etc ......whatever)

To someone who has never heard of nirvana, this film would be even worse.

I also think that on the one hand, its supposed to be a fictional character called blake-so fair enough, all of the unrealistic pathetic scenes can be justified to a certain extent. But then on the other hand, the way his corpe was lying and the room in which he dies, looked exactly the same to what really happened to kurt. So i think thats a really bad thing to do to.

Also, when his naked body climbs out of the corpse, that meant nothing to me, it was just another bum in a film.

Anyway, the guardian gave this film 5 stars and said it was 'brilliant' - so maybe some people will enjoy this film.......

Rock out to 'breed', dont watch this stuff.



A waste of time
Review date: 2008-02-24 Rating: 2 out of 10

I usually find watching movies a worthwhile activity. I often come across reviews where people complain that a movie was so bad they wasted 2 hours of their life they will never get back. I rarely feel that way. Watching "Last Days", I did.

The movie is very tedious to watch. There's no plot to speak of. It consists of endless scenes of lead character, Blake, walking round mumbling to himself, and occasional scenes of pointless dialogue. Some reviewers have have defended the lack of plot by saying the movie is a character study. But "Last Days" fails as a character study because it doesn't allow us to get to know Blake. And a character study, too, needs something to keep the viewer interested.

"Last Days" was truly a waste of 93 minutes of my life that I will never get back. I have no idea how Gus Van Sant, who made "My Own Private Idaho", could make such a bad movie. Perhaps the movie is meant to be boring. Perhaps it's the point of the movie. Maybe Van Sant wants to make the audience as bored and frustrated as Blake is. If that is what Van Sant intended, the movie succeeds. But that doesn't make it worth watching and it still doesn't succeed in giving us any real understanding for the character. Recommended only to those who love movies where nothing happens and those who thought "The Brown Bunny" was a masterpiece. I'm glad I got it from the library and didn't pay for it.

Product Details/Specifications


Actor(s):
Lukas Haas
Michael Pitt
Asia Argento
Nicole Vicius
Scott Green

Creators:
Michael Pitt (Primary Contributor)
Lukas Haas (Primary Contributor)

Director(s):

Recording label: Optimum Home Entertainment
Manufacturer: Optimum Home Entertainment
EAN: 5060034573210
Binding: DVD
Number of items: 1
Format: Full Screen, PAL,
Release date: 2006-01-09
Aspect ratio: 1.33:1
Audience rating: Suitable for 15 years and over
Region code: 2
Running time: 93 minutes
Theatrical release date: 2005
Language: English (Original Language)

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