Posted: 07/26/2005

Last Days

(2005)

by Anna Keizer

Let me first say that more than a few people walked out of the theatre while I was watching this film. Normally, I would just think that they were ignorant fools. People who can’t open up their minds to something new and different. In this particular case, however, I could kinda understand.

Last Days is not an easy movie to sit through. Using only fictional characters, the film is nevertheless a loose retelling of Kurt Cobain’s final days. Instead of Kurt, however, we observe Blake (Michael Pitt) as he mumbles and fumbles around his wooded estate. A rock star that has apparently crossed over from musical genius to unintelligible recluse, he lives out his last hours wandering through the forest, running from his so-called “friends” and cooking cheesy mac. Meanwhile, Blake’s companions go about their own business, completely carefree and untroubled. They sleep in his guest rooms and entertain themselves with his instruments and music, all the while ignoring any signs that their friend might be in danger. When one girl finds him slumped over and passed out in his bedroom, she simply props him back up and shuts the door behind her. Nice.

If Van Sant was trying to show that Cobain- aka Blake- was in danger from his friends as much as from himself, then he succeeded tremendously. It’s heartbreaking to watch this man- who at many times seems to have the sensibility of a child- roam around incoherent and filthy while his guests bitch that the house is too cold. That they could have saved Blake from suicide but didn’t due to their callous disregard for his well-being is strongly insinuated.

That aside, however, Last Days offers the viewer nothing more in revealing what actually pushed Blake to end his own life. As already mentioned, our protagonist can barely get out a comprehensible word. Most of the time, we simply watch him as he changes clothes, eats cereal or relieves himself in a stream. How this brings us closer to understanding a much misunderstood artist is beyond me.

Yet one superb scene does give the viewer a glimpse into Blake’s creative albeit tortured mind. Alone in his huge home, he sits in a corner and wails out “From Death to Birth,” a song filled with the anguish of someone who cannot free himself from a fog of misery and depression. It’s a beautiful and incredibly moving performance, one that should give Pitt the recognition he deserves as both a talented musician and actor.

In the end, though, I came away from Last Days with very insight into this fragile artist. Obviously he needed help. Obviously he was ignored by those closest to him. Not so obvious, however, is how this film sheds any light onto why this man ended his gifted life.

Anna Keizer is a film critic and screenwriter in Southern California.

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