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Nico Icon (1995)
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Reviews Counted:12
Fresh:10
Rotten:2
Average Rating:7/10
Runtime: 67 mins
Genre: Education/General Interest
Synopsis: This jarring profile of Warhol protege, Velvet Underground vocalist, and unrepentant lifelong heroin addict Nico (nee Christa Paffgen) gives an insider's look into the strange, tragic, but... This jarring profile of Warhol protege, Velvet Underground vocalist, and unrepentant lifelong heroin addict Nico (nee Christa Paffgen) gives an insider's look into the strange, tragic, but ultimately glamorous life of this 1960s icon. Nico moved from her native Germany to Paris, becoming a fashion model at age 16. Archival footage shows a glowingly beautiful Nico posing for Vogue and acting in television commercials. She even played a role in Federico Fellini's timeless 1960 film LA DOLCE VITA. However, as the film details, Nico slowly deteriorates in the New York City scene surrounding Andy Warhol and The Factory. Interviews by director Susanne Ofteringer with friends of Nico such as Paul Morrissey, Jackson Browne, and even her son Ari Boulonge (whose father is French New Wave actor Alain Delon), shed light on Nico's love affairs with Lou Reed, Iggy Pop, and Jim Morrison. However, what comes through most powerfully is Nico's downfall in New York City's underground, leading to her loss of beauty, disinterest in life, and eventually her mysterious 1988 death in relative obscurity in Ibiza. Footage of the icon herself is nothing short of dazzling, while the story of her life is as fascinating as it is harrowing. [More]
Starring: Andy Warhol, Viva, Lou Reed, John Cale
Starring: Andy Warhol, Viva, Lou Reed, John Cale, Jackson Browne, Paul Morrissey, Billy Name, Jonas Mekas, Sterling Morrison, Ari Boulonge, Danny Fields, Herma Wolff, Tina Aumont
Director: Susanne Ofteringer
Director: Susanne Ofteringer
Screenwriter: Susanne Ofteringer
Producer: Annette Pisacane, Thomas Mertens
Reviews for Nico Icon
That voyeuristic fascination with doomed glamour is one of the guilty pleasures of Susanne Ofteringer's utterly haunting documentary film, Nico Icon.
Nico Icon is a powerful, often disturbing portrayal of a woman haunted by her elevation to icon status for little more than her physical attributes.
Nico, the beautiful heroin-addicted, one-time model and actress turned pop singer, is a strange subject for a documentary. Director Susanne Ofteringer took the strangeness and ran with it.
Catching a look at what took a gorgeous kid, full of life, into a rare freak show is certainly worth a look.
Nico-Icon is more than the investigation of a doomed celebrity: It's also a mirror reflecting her friends, her audience and pop culture.
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.
Nico Icon tells us more than we ever knew about this pop star yet manages to leave the mysterious reflecting pool that will forever be Nico intact.
The movie has no moral or message, does not attempt to rehabilitate Nico as an anti-heroine, and finds mostly emptiness and sadness in her life. I have a feeling Nico would have enjoyed it.
This picture is a mess. It never presents a compelling case of why we should care about Nico.
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