NICO - ICON
A film review by Steve Rhodes
Copyright 1996 Steve Rhodes
RATING (0 TO ****): **
NICO - ICON is a documentary by director Susanne Ofteringer of the life of that "famous" personage from the 60s, Nico. Although I was a teenager in the 60s, I do not remember her at all. Nevertheless, the documentary describes her as a famous model, actress, and singer. She was an underground singer who played with the band, The Velvet Underground. Guess they must have been way underground in the 60s. I thought I knew of all the rock groups from that period, and I do not recall them or her. Oh well, memory fads.
Now, knowing nothing about a subject is actually the preferable state for viewing a documentary. Late last year I saw a great documentary called THEREMIN: AN ELECTRONIC ODYSSEY. Before seeing it, I had never heard of a crazy little musical device called a Theremin. Nevertheless, I loved the documentary while hating the screechy sounds that bizarre gadget produces.
NICO - ICON tells the story of the woman named Christa Paffgen who became the idol known as Nico. Talking about her early career, Billy Name said, "Everyone was fascinated with her. She was a marble sculpture, a goddess, something from Valhalla." The narrator tells us however that "she went from being so beautiful to being some kind of freak show." She performed with arms full of holes from her massive heroin habit. Toward the end of her career she looked terrible. Her teeth were bad, and she basically looked wasted. She would fit right in with your typical group of street people. After years of drug abuse, she died in the late 80s.
On the good side, the film is an honest depiction of a person devoid of humanity, and it teaches us what can happen in such circumstances. As one of her friends said, "No one loved Nico, and Nico loved no one." She is said to have had numerous lovers, but hated sex. Based on the older interviews with her, she seemed terminally unhappy. In one she proclaimed, "I don't have to be outside to be outside. I like being confined. I like being locked in a closet." She sang one of the morose songs she wrote which went, "Make me fly, let me die, make me fly."
Her body of work is a paragon of blandness. Her songs have little feeling or musical interest. Although she appeared in such films as LA DOLCE VITA and CHELSEA GIRLS, I would not go so far as to say she acted in any of them based on the clips shown. Only as a model, did she seem to have any real talent, but then again, her talent was as a goddess, and goddesses just are, they do not need to actually do anything. The documentary is effective at illustrating loneliness and what it can do to a person's spirit.
On the bad side, as a documentary, this picture is a mess. It never presents a compelling case of why we should care about Nico. Moreover, the filmmaker has a leaden approach. She unnecessarily italicizes everything. When she has someone talking about Nico, she picks out key phrases from the speaker and prints them on the screen lest we miss the essential points she wants us to take away from the interview. Sometimes loud music (Mark Mothersbaugh) overlays the interview for emphasis. Other times, the editors (Elfe Brandenburger and Guido Krajewski) will overlap videos and still images in a failed attempt to pump energy into a film that glorifies lifelessness.
Nico's life is a reverse Cinderella story, and ultimately the documentary is as cold and inanimate as Nico herself. I did learn a lot about someone I had never known, and although it is sad, I wish Ofteringer had made a much better case as to the point of the film.
NICO - ICON runs just 1:15. It is not rated, but I would guess it would get an R for all of the drug references. There is brief nudity, but no sex or violence, and I the language is pretty clean. It would be fine for any teenager. Although I found parts interesting, the documentary is so poorly developed that I can not quite bring myself to recommend it. If you are one of those people who remember her, you will probably like the film more than I did. I give the movie ** for the insights I did gain.
**** = One of the top few films of this or any year. A must see film. *** = Excellent show. Look for it. ** = Average movie. Kind of enjoyable. * = Poor show. Don't waste your money. 0 = One of the worst films of this or any year. Totally unbearable.
REVIEW WRITTEN ON: May 8, 1996
Opinions expressed are mine and not meant to reflect my employer's.
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