Movie Review: Nico, 1988

Nico, 1988 *** ½ / *****

Directed by: Susanna Nicchiarelli.

Written by: Susanna Nicchiarelli.

Starring: Trine Dyrholm (Christa Päffgen a.k.a Nico), John Gordon Sinclair (Richard), Anamaria Marinca (Sylvia), Sandor Funtek (Ari), Thomas Trabacchi (Domenico), Karina Fernandez (Laura), Calvin Demba (Alex), Francesco Colella (Francesco).

 

“My life began after I left the Velvet Underground” – Christa Päffgen aka Nico tells an interviewer at one point in the unconventional biopic Nico, 1988. She wants to talk about her own music – the music she is making now – but throughout the film, we will see her during various interviews, and all anyone wants to talk about is her past. She had an interesting past in the 1960s after all – captured, in snippets of old footage, that are like glimpses of memory – working for directors like Fellini or Andy Warhol, and of course, being in The Velvet Underground – where she sang three songs - the rest of the time, she stood in the background and played tambourine – it was like when she was a model she says – she was there for her image. But all of that was 20 years in the past by this point, and she no longer really cares about it. She has her own music now. But no one asks about that.

 

Susanna Nicchiarelli’s Nico, 1988 (which is an odd title for a movie that spends an hour in 1986, about five minutes in 1987 and 25 minutes in 1988) is a film that is interested in everything those interviewers were not. Other than those snippets of footage, we don’t see anything from Nico when she was in the 1960s – and considered one of the most beautiful women in the world. She’s older now, a junkie, loves to eat and drink and doesn’t much care what anyone thinks of her. Her one regret is her relationship with her son – Ari – who was raised by his grandparents, because Nico wasn’t really that responsible at the time. The rest of what people say or think about her rolls off her back – the subject of her son stings – and are the moments where she seems to have nothing to say.

 

At the heart of the movie is a fine performance by Trine Dyrholm as Nico – who is able to nail Nico’s trademark low vocal on a number of her songs (and songs by other she will sing) over the course of this movie. But she gets to something deeper and darker here as well. Nico may not care what people think of her – may not care that her record sales have never been great (“I am very selective about my audience” – she tells an interviewer at one point) – but underneath that exterior, part of her does. It has to be frustrating to know that the reason you’re being interviewed – the reason she can support a tour, and record her albums – all has to do with a time in your life you no longer want to talk about.

 

The problem with the movie is that other than Nico, and Dyrholm’s performance, there isn’t much else here. The visual look of the film is quite good, but the rest of the characters are paper thin. Like Nico, many of them are junkies – although she handles it better than they do. Her relationship with her son is the emotional heart of the film, but doesn’t really work in that regard – he doesn’t appear until fairly late in the film, and he never really becomes a character in his own right.

 

Still, I appreciate this approach to the material. Most musical biopics (like, say Bohemian Rhapsody), play like basically a greatest hits collection – unconcerned with what happens later. Nico, 1988 is about what happens when that part of your life has faded. It’s a tragic film – but not in the way you may suspect it will be.