Nick Broomfield Picks a "Kurt & Courtney" Moment
For his 1998 documentary film surrounding the circumstances of Kurt Cobain's death, Kurt & Courtney, documentary maker Nick Broomfield talked to an interview subject who claimed that Courtney Love offered him money to kill her husband -- El Duce.
Those in the music scene knew El Duce (real name Eldon Wayne Hoke) as the singer for the Mentors, a punk provocateur who wrote crank letters to local music rags, appeared on television wearing an executioner's hood, and promoted his music as "rape rock." Not exactly a pillar of society -- but a potential killer? Broomfield went to his home to investigate.
"What I remember about shooting that scene was there was El Duce, but there was also this incredibly vicious dog that was straining on a metal leash to get us," Broomfield told Current. "He was just far enough away that he couldn't bite."
While the dog tried to scare away the film crew, Broomfield tried to get the story out of El Duce. "I never knew what I could or couldn't believe," he said. "A lot of what El Duce said was entirely possible, that Courtney had in fact offered him money. We met other people who said similiar things. But it was impossible to prove either way."
Broomfield said the medium of documentary film gave you more of a sense of El Duce than any magazine article could -- "how unreliable and crazy that particular world was."
Two days after their brief encounter, El Duce died -- hit by a train in Riverside. A liquor store was across the train tracks, so some speculate that he was intoxicated. Others used his death to prop up conspiracy theories about Cobain's death.
"In the end, he said things that you can't prove either way," Broomfield said. "And so the audience has to make up its own mind. I even said to him, 'I don't think you're the most reliable witness.' And he said, 'You're not the most reliable witness, either.'"
Kurt & Courtney airs on Current TV on Thursday, March 10 at 8:30 ET/5:30 pm PT.
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wizardofoz
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He's quite a character.
- 2 years ago
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wizardofoz
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ZungPow
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Wow, very interesting indeed. Good stuff for sure! Amazing.
- 2 years ago
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ZungPow
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dwb2585
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WOw this is very interesting. I want to see more of this interview.
- 2 years ago
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dwb2585
