Film Review: Last Days (2005)
Kurt Cobain, lead singer of Nirvana, enjoys the status of one of the last great rock legends, in part because, like many of his predecessors, he ensured immortality by leaving this world prematurely. Cobain not only died young, but he did so in a rather spectacular way - by shooting himself in the head with a shotgun. Or someone made to look that way, if you believe numerous journalists, friends and fans who, based on a series of never-explained details from the investigation, claim that one of the most famous personalities of his generation fell victim to a financial calculation according to which a dead rock star is more profitable than a living drug addict.
Several books have been written and a few documentaries made on this topic, but none of these projects have generated as much publicity as the announcement that the illustrious filmmaker Gus Van Sant would tackle Cobain's last days. In 2005, the film, titled Last Days had its premiere at the Cannes Film Festival, where Van Sant had already adorned himself with the Palm d'Or in 2003 for Elephant, and many were intrigued by the fact that Cobain's character was played by Michael Pitt, a young actor who took great care to reincarnate the deceased rocker as much as possible in terms of physical appearance and gestures.
However, Cobain's fans, as well as those eager for the real truth about Cobain's death, will be unsatisfied. Van Sant was afraid that Cobain's widow Courtney Love might not like his treatment. This is the reason why her character is not in the film, but also that the protagonist's name has been changed to "Blake". The film depicts the last 48 hours of Blake's life, spent in a house on Lake Washington. The plot boils down to Blake wandering in and around the house, muttering incoherently to himself. He shows the same indifference to the four acquaintances with whom he shares the roof as he does to the travelling salesman and Mormon missionaries. His death is not shown, and Cobain's and Nirvana's music is not heard in the film.
From time to time, Van Sant tries to break the monotony by having Blake dress in women's dresses or with homoerotic scenes involving two of Blake's acquaintances. But when the film finally comes to an end, viewers will get the impression that a more appropriate title for the film would have been The Last Years or The Last Eons rather than The Last Days. What was supposed to be one of the most attractive films of our time has been reduced to a parody of an art film, a work that confirms all the negative prejudices about that aspect of the seventh art. The Last Days is slow, drawn out, with completely empty characters who have no purpose and whose actions are completely meaningless. But the biggest problem with The Last Days is that it cannot function without the background provided by Cobain and his myth. In other words, The Last Days makes no sense to viewers who approach it as a tabula rasa or who have no idea what Nirvana and grunge music are.
And there will be more and more such viewers over time. As Cobain's generation gets replaced by Millennials and Zoomers, viewers will very quickly lose interest in that name once they see this reduction of a cultural legend to a banal embodiment of indifference and meaninglessness. The Last Days gives the impression that it could very well complete what was started more than three decades ago by a shotgun.
RATING: 2/10 (-)
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