Nico Icon

This documentary is worth watching if you're interested in Nico or related subjects (my interest in the Velvet Underground is what got me to watch it, and VU are so important to modern music history that it's worth watching just for that), but it is seriously lacking in several respects.

First of all, the movie is only 67 minutes long and ends too abruptly. Another half-hour of more extensive interviews would have greatly strengthened the film. Maybe people like Lou Reed or the surviving members of The Doors simply refused to take part in the movie, but the absence of their opinions leaves definite holes in the story. In the film's defense, maybe there's just not much elaboration anyone can give about Nico--she was pretty, had a striking voice, and was a depressive junkie; that about sums up the impression I'm left with (which probably isn't all the film's fault!). But couldn't they have at least given us Lou Reed's take on Nico, even if it was only via anecdotes shared by others?

The creation of her solo songs & albums is very glossed-over. Suddenly Andy Warhol's crew is talking about hearing a single of Nico's--the viewer is left to wonder, "Well, when & how did that recording come about?!" We are shown pictures of her solo albums while clips of her songs are played, but that's about it--no real discussion of the circumstances surrounding the writing, recording, promotion, dates of release, etc. It's left unclear how much of the actual CREATION of those songs was done by Nico herself--did she learn to play any instruments, did she direct other music writers to produce what she was envisioning? Maybe these things were addressed and I simply missed them, but if so, it was a sentence or two at most, which might have been inaudible--

--which leads us into the problem of the poor sound quality; the music sometimes drowns out the poorly recorded interviews, so that when the interviewees lapse into softer voices, mutters & mumbles (their various accents add to this problem), it can be very hard to understand what is being said. Also annoying is the cheesy method of occasionally superimposing words on the screen as they are spoken by interviewees or sung by the soundtrack. This technique feels cheap and superficial--like a commercial trying to convince us that what is being said is important or deep.

Overall, it's definitely worth seeing if you like documentaries & music/pop history, but not a great documentary by any means. I'm almost tempted to go back and change my vote to 6, but I think I'll leave it at 7 because I did enjoy watching it. Worth renting, but not worth owning.

A fascinating look at a sad & mysterious woman whose music was a deep, dark gaze into the pit of existence. If you have never heard Nico, then by all means, you must see this film. Fans will love it regardless, but the uninitiated have the most to gain. The facts of her life are chronicled, but numerous attempts by friends & acquaintances to describe who Nico was are fruitless. One realizes by the end of the film that Nico was so elusive, much like her music, that attempts to describe who she was tend to reveal more about the speaker, than they do about Nico. Someone says that Nico, who had been a model first, always hated being complimented on her beauty. The speaker suggests that it must have been some German perversity. He then explains how she proceeded to continually attempt to make herself ugly. Another person says "No one loved Nico & Nico loved no one" - a haunting statement that points to the isolation that Nico experienced. When she was beautiful, she was adored, so she destroyed heself & watched (& cried beautiful melodies) as everyone in her life capitulated. One of the finest scenes in the film finds Nico's Aunt looking over pictures & press clippings of the girl she helped raise. She speaks of Nico in adoring terms, referring to her as a princess. We then see her listening to Nico & The Velvets, gazing into the sky, lightly singing along, then shedding tears. It is a striking scene, as a tight & proper, matronly German figure crosses the boundary to an underground youth culture, that is so divorced from her world, yet bridged by her love for Nico. A great documentary of a performer who was well ahead of her time.

I knew little of Nico when I first saw this on it's first release back in 1995,but I quickly became fascinated by this striking beauty with haunting monotone voice.

There are many great moments in this:

The interview with the musician who toured with Nico in her middle aged junkie years,saying he wrote a book to show the "failure" side of rock stardom.

Nico's aunt tearfully listening and singing along with "I'll Be Your Mirror"

Alain Delon's mother showing how modestly she lives and speaks of raising Nico and Delon's son.

Seeing the grown son Ari after hearing about his troubled childhood.

The 1965 music video of Nico singing "I'm Not Saying"

Came to this film, with a few good recommendations, but no knowledge at all about the woman, Christa Paffgen (NICO) about whom this documentary is based.

NICO, a young German woman, model, created an image in conjunction with Andy Warhol and his group as an asexual junkie. As a biography, the film is weak, short on information, with a limited and jaded perspective.

As a tribute, it fails miserably. I'm still uncertain where ICON fits in the whole picture aside from looking good in the title. There is little substance in the film to suggest she 'earned' any sort of recognition, stature, or approval from anyone but miscreants and lost souls. From my vantagepoint her life seems little different than many misguided college youth who gave up their lives to confusion and drugs, far too early. It's a tragic tale, I guess, but far from distinctive.

The whole deal is some sort of inside joke and I sit outside, unfortunately--maybe it all got lost in the translation.

"Nico Icon" is a movie which will not satisfy Nico's fans cause the essential,that is to say,the musical side ,is minimal .Both her short stint with the Velvet and her solo career are botched.

On the other hand,we hear Edith Boulogne, actor Alain Delon's mother talk for a long time of her grandson Ari -who appears himself too- .There was a world between Nico, an avant-garde artist and a simple woman such as Mrs Boulogne who complains "cause she was always feeding him with crisps ".The boy seems to despise his grandma who raised him though.

In his biography of Delon (2000),(I do not know if the book has been translated into English) Bernard Violet devoted the end of a chapter to Nico's son: "Le cas "Ari Boulogne" ".