Featuring: Nico, the Velvet Underground, Ari Boulonge, Jackson Browne, James Young, Sterling
Morrison, Viva, Paul Morrisey, John Cale, Danny Fields, Helma Wolff, and others
Director: Susanne Ofteringer
Written by: Susanne Ofteringer
Cinematography: Judith Kaufman and Katarzyna Remin
Music: Nico and the Velvet Underground
U.S. Distributor: Roxie Releasing
In English, German, and French with subtitles
She was born Christa Paffgen in World War II Germany. Her father was killed when she was four. By the age of 16, she had moved to Paris to start modeling. In 1959, her film career took off with an appearance in Fellini's La Dolce Vita. A decade later, she had slipped from the conventional spotlight to join Andy Warhol's "flying circus" as the lead singer for the Velvet Underground. In 1986, a heroin addict who was described variously as a "freak act" and a "middle-aged junkie", she made her final public appearance. Two years later, at the age of 49, she died of a brain hemorrhage. "She" is the "Siren of the Sixties", supermodel Nico, and Nico Icon is Susanne Ofteringer's attempt to present a screen biography.
Unfortunately, though Nico Icon is replete with fascinating tidbits about the model-turned- singer's opinions and lovers, it does little to bring us understanding of the real person. This is a flashy, fast-paced, outsider's overview of a tormented woman's life, that, in the end, is fundamentally dissatisfying because it's so superficial. Ofteringer interviews quite a number of Nico's intimates, including her son, Ari Boulonge, and several former lovers, but all we get from them are the often-repeated refrains that Nico hated her own beauty and was bored by life. That's as deep as Nico Icon ever gets, as we are exposed only to the icon, not the woman.
Where the film succeeds is in its collage of visual images. Some of the archival footage is amazing, and we learn more from the pictures than the interviews. We see a teenage Nico, glamorous and beautiful, posing for Vogue. A clip from La Dolce Vita is offered, followed by numerous TV commercials. Then, gradually over the years, we observe her physical deterioration as she gave up caring about her appearance, allowed her teeth to rot, and dyed her blonde hair dark. Over a twenty-year period she changed from the epitome of "pure beauty" to ugliness. Yet, even in her ravaged 1986 features, there is still the shadow of a face that once captivated the world.
For those who love gossip, Nico Icon is peppered with it. Nico didn't like sex, yet had affairs with an astounding number of men, including French actor/director Alain Delon (with whom she had her only son, Ari), singer/songwriter Jackson Browne, Lou Reed, Jim Morrison, and Iggy Pop. She was in the same New York acting class as Marilyn Monroe. Her obsession with Jim Morrison was so great that she lit candles to him while he was still alive.
Perhaps Nico's personality was so elusive that there's not enough substance for any documentary to do a better job than this one. And, despite Ofteringer's use of juvenile techniques (such as "highlighting" key phrases by spelling them out in writing on screen) and erratic cinematography, her method of presentation is surprisingly effective. For those with an interest in Nico, the Velvet Underground, Andy Warhol, or the drug subculture of the '60s and '70s, Nico Icon has its obvious attractions. For everyone else, the best this film offers is a cursory glimpse of a remnant of '50s and '60s pop culture flotsam.
© 1996 James Berardinelli