Rating: 
Summary: Nice one, Nico!
Review: "Nico Icon" is a powerful documentary which illuminates some of the excesses and indulgences of the clique which emerged from Andy Warhol's Factory in the '60s and '70s and included the group, Velvet Underground. Nico's descent from beautiful bimbo to middle-aged junkie is traced through her relationships with men such as Alain Delon (the father of her son, Ari) and Jim Morrison. The most memorable feature of Nico's otherwise somewhat dubious talent is the performance of her haunting songs. John Cale's song (with his extraordinary piano accompaniment), "Frozen Boundaries" that concludes the video is also worthy of mention. If you have followed the life and career of Marianne Faithfull, you'll understand and love Nico.
Rating:
Summary: Nice one, Nico!
Review: "Nico Icon" is a powerful documentary which illuminates some of the excesses and indulgences of the clique which emerged from Andy Warhol's Factory in the '60s and '70s and included the group, Velvet Underground. Nico's descent from beautiful bimbo to middle-aged junkie is traced through her relationships with men such as Alain Delon (the father of her son, Ari) and Jim Morrison. The most memorable feature of Nico's otherwise somewhat dubious talent is the performance of her haunting songs. John Cale's song (with his extraordinary piano accompaniment), "Frozen Boundaries" that concludes the video is also worthy of mention. If you have followed the life and career of Marianne Faithfull, you'll understand and love Nico.
Rating:
Summary: Nico Icon
Review: "Regrets? I have no regrets. Except that I was born a woman instead of a man. That's my only regret." -- Nico, in an interview two years before her death at age 49. That line perfectly sums up how far ahead of her time Nico was, realizing how much what she was immediately judged on (her appearance) was inherently gender specific, and how much she hated herself for her physical beauty when it was her other talents she wished to be recognized for, but by the end of this film you'll be hard-pressed to imagine what those other talents might be. Naomi Wolf could use her as a textbook example of how being born physically beautiful can be detrimental if one's beauty is so striking that it eclipses one's accomplishments. In fact, "Nico Icon" is almost a misnomer for what the film fully illustrates. "Nico Iconoclast" would be a more apt title. A classic Teutonic beauty, all long legs, long neck, high cheekbones and icy disposition, Nico came to treat her physical beauty as a curse and spent her life trying her best to destroy what magnetized attention towards her because she had the intelligence to realize that there is no moral worth is getting attention for physical beauty alone because it doesn't imply any sense of accomplishment. Shattering the hegemony of the beholder. By the end of her life she had successfully managed to destroy her looks to the extent that she had been absolutely ravaged by her steady diet of heroin over the years and apparently was proud of her intravenous tracks on her arms and rotten teeth. A childhood victim of the second World War, when she was four years old her father was exterminated by the Nazis when a battle wound resulted in insanity-inducing brain damage. (I also just discovered in Transformer, the recent Victor Bockris biography of Lou Reed, that apparently she was raped by a German soldier as a child.) She was raised by her mother's sister (what happened to her mother is not adequately explained in the film) and must have felt such deep rooted fears of abandonment that according to one bohemian friend of hers in Paris she apparently never loved anyone, nor was loved by anyone, even though she had many "lovers," everyone from Jim Morrison (whom she called her "soul brother") to Jackson Browne and French film star Alain Delon whom she gave birth to a son with. The most poignant part of the film is when Delon's mother is interviewed and she explains how Ari, their son, was so neglectfully nourished as a child (Nico used to simply use her own sustenance of potato chips to take care of her baby's dietary needs as well) that she optioned to "adopt" the boy which precipitated Delon to have his mother "choose" between either he or his son. Delon's mother chose, obviously, to care for the boy and as a result of that decision Delon has not spoken to his mother in 17 years. When Ari went to live with Nico in Manchester at the age of 18, Nico turned him onto heroin, a substance that seemed to be the be-all and end- all of her life since, according to acquaintances, she had no interests. Nothing excited her about life. At all. (In post-Velvets live performances she frequently covered the Doors song "The End." I highly recommend the live album June 1, 1974 which captures an incredible version of her rendering of that song with John Cale, Kevin Ayers and Brian Eno.) Lou Reed, conspicuous in his absence as an interviewee, apparently was so smitten with Nico that he wrote the song I'll Be Your Mirror, perhaps one of the most tender melodies he's ever written, out of that phrase which she once uttered to him. The circumstances leading up to her leaving The Velvet Underground have always been shadowy, and no real resolution is identified in this film. John Cale attempts to shed some light on the apparently many factors involved which led to her dismissal which primarily boil down to the fact that she couldn't carry a tune, which is a cop-out, especially for such an experimental band. Sure, she wouldn't have been able to sing with, say, the Mamas and the Papas, but the voice she did have was full of expression and nuance, and her phrasing albeit erratic was very original, and the few songs she sang with the Velvets (I'll Be Your Mirror, All Tomorrow's Parties, Femme Fatale) are seminal classics BECAUSE of her voice, not in spite of it. In fact, a video of a song she recorded before hooking up with the Velvets called I'm Not Saying fully illustrates that what she may have lacked in range was made up for with a very powerful set of pipes to carry a song with. Regardless of the fact that she had no range, Nico's persona and artistic ambitions, the film makes clear, were unprecedented for female singers at the time: When all the other women in that era were either wearing short skirts or gingham dresses, she was always dressed in either black or white jumpsuits. As a result, Nico blazed the way for everyone from Yoko Ono and Patti Smith to Joanna Went and Diamanda Galas. The implication is that her drug use got so developed that she was more concerned with simply hanging out with Warhol's Factory crowd at a point when the Velvets wanted to progress as a band rather than just be part of Andy Warhol's Traveling Circus. In fact, Nico comes across as being so unappealing that by the end of the film you start to realize that perhaps, ironically enough, her physical beauty was all she really had going for her. WAS she raped? Does ANYONE she knew have anything nice to say about her? Any fond memories or examples of a tender side whatsoever?
Rating:
Summary: No inner life? Or nothing but...?
Review: About midway through this documentary, former Warhol superstar Viva! makes the assertion that Nico had no inner life. Then she quickly amends the statement and says that Nico had no inner life that anyone else could know. Well, there is a vast difference there. To imply that the woman who composed such unearthly song-poems as "Frozen Warnings," "Evening of Light," and "Julius Caesar (Memento Hodie)" had no inner life is beyond preposterous. Tell you what, Veev, get back to us with your insights once you've written anything half as good. As much as I respect this film (Susanne Ofteringer has unearthed a great deal of rare footage and assembled her documentary skillfully), I have my doubts that it will change many people's minds about Nico as an artist. Too many still see her as some sort of top-flight groupie who recorded a few Jackson Browne and Lou Reed songs. The cliches still abound, "couldn't sing," "Warhol hanger-on," "Velvet Underground hanger-on." Not that many really understand what she was about, and it's a shame. At some point in the film, John Cale asserts that his work with Nico has yet to be seen for what it is--a genuine contribution to European classical music. Ofteringer does what she can to correct some of the misapprehensions about her subject. But what many will come away with is the tragic story of a talented, beautiful woman who threw it all away. That's part of Nico's story,of course. But while I understand the impulse to refer to Nico as a "failure" (in commercial terms and in her personal life, she certainly was), it is a disservice to imply that she failed artistically. She did not.
Rating:
Summary: No inner life? Or nothing but...?
Review: About midway through this documentary, former Warhol superstar Viva! makes the assertion that Nico had no inner life. Then she quickly amends the statement and says that Nico had no inner life that anyone else could know. Well, there is a vast difference there. To imply that the woman who composed such unearthly song-poems as "Frozen Warnings," "Evening of Light," and "Julius Caesar (Memento Hodie)" had no inner life is beyond preposterous. Tell you what, Veev, get back to us with your insights once you've written anything half as good. As much as I respect this film (Susanne Ofteringer has unearthed a great deal of rare footage and assembled her documentary skillfully), I have my doubts that it will change many people's minds about Nico as an artist. Too many still see her as some sort of top-flight groupie who recorded a few Jackson Browne and Lou Reed songs. The cliches still abound, "couldn't sing," "Warhol hanger-on," "Velvet Underground hanger-on." Not that many really understand what she was about, and it's a shame. At some point in the film, John Cale asserts that his work with Nico has yet to be seen for what it is--a genuine contribution to European classical music. Ofteringer does what she can to correct some of the misapprehensions about her subject. But what many will come away with is the tragic story of a talented, beautiful woman who threw it all away. That's part of Nico's story,of course. But while I understand the impulse to refer to Nico as a "failure" (in commercial terms and in her personal life, she certainly was), it is a disservice to imply that she failed artistically. She did not.
Rating: 
Summary: Worst filmed so called documentry of a tragic existence.
Review: Anyone who can sit through this extremely poorly produced documentry must be on heroin themselves. Much of it is in lousy quality video and extremely poor audio. Some of the subtitling is displayed so fast that I had to put my VCR into slow-mo to read it. I thought it would be an engaging story of an addicted pop star but I found it hard to follow and uncompelling. Just because she did drugs and made it with every rock star and producer she met doesn't make her talented. She was beautiful once, yes, but later turned to heroin and became quite decrepit. Her music was mostly uninteresting to me. Some things about Lou Reed and Jim Morrison were interesting but overall the documentry was poorly produced. I guess you'll love it or hate it. I'm donating my copy to the local library where you can loan it for free. It's not worth much more.
Rating: 
Summary: A rock heroine
Review: As a teenager, my friends and I knew of very few intelligent, deep, female stars to identify with. Nico would have provided a great alternative to Jim Morrison (a man) or even Janis Joplin (not exactly "intellectual" in the way Morrison and Nico were). Nico's story is tragic. Her family was broken apart by WWII. As she grew older, her identity was defined by her beauty and the fashion industry. Her choices over time reveal the rejection of that superfical identity. She refused to sing high and "prettily," and her lyrics are intelligent and clear about her psychological and emotional isolation. Over time, she becomes "ugly" intentionally, to free herself from the identity others wanted her to maintain. I disagree with reviews that describe her relationship with her son as "sordid." She was a part of the world of Warhol's Factory, and like Lou Reed and the rest she lived an extreme lifestyle. But she eventually quits heroine and is somewhat reconciled with her son. Seen anyone criticizing male rock stars for how they raise their kids lately? Her dark personality, severity, and intelligence are characteristics in women that aren't normally highlighted by the male-dominated media industry. And no wonder, she wasn't trying to please any men, so why should they be interested? It's unfortunate, though, for her music is haunting and powerful. Nico was as intense and talented as Lou Reed or Jim Morrison, and arguably with more to say, given her family and personal history. Yet she was relatively excluded from mainstream rock history. This is definitely a good movie, and Nico is great for girls and women who need an icon with the same intensity and power and talent as some well-known "tragic" male stars.
Rating:
Summary: Don¿t waste your time.
Review: 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.
Rating:
Summary: Unknown Icon.
Review: I first heard of Nico many years ago. I vaguely remember her as the epitome of Nordic beauty, who sang with The Velvet Underground and consequently was associated with Andy Warhol. Knowing alot about Warhol history, I was aware that Nico was mostly remembered for her appearance and her non-communicative ways. In Underground recordings featuring Nico, I would have to agree with Warhol's appraisal of her vocal skills as the "voice of a beautiful cow." She seemed to be just another of the many tragic, lost beauties, like Edie Sedgwick, who almost made it, but, not quite. In this interesting documentary, one gets to know Nico somewhat better. One of the main thoughts I came away with upon viewing this film is the sad feeling of wasted beauty. Though that commodity's value is questionable, and certainly fades with time, Nico's beauty, as viewed here in early stills and films, was shocking. It was not just the knowledge of what was to come that made me feel sadness at seeing this girls exquisite, flawless beauty. She was obviously too deep a person to just settle for being viewed as merely gorgeous. She was also a talented poet/songwriter, and I was very impressed with her ethereal later recordings seen and heard here. I certainly can't argue with her statement also heard here that her only regret was that she hadn't been born a man. No, beauty was not enough for her. What is sad to reflect upon is her deterioration into heroin addiction. She became what a bandmate here refers to as a "middle aged junkie", and the film seen here of Nico toward the end of her life is of a person that has become unrecognizable compared to the blonde ice goddess of not too many years before. The fact that she also had a very young son, to whom she apparently provided a steady diet of potato chips, and basically abandoned to the kindly mother of the child's father, actor Alain Delon, and whose very presence obviously interfered with her wanderlust, makes any empathy with her hard to conjure up. Also hearing from her ex-lover that Nico got same son addicted to heroin is an extremely distasteful and unsympathetic thought. Yes, she had some talent. But, was she a troubled human being, whom we should pity, or simply selfish from birth? It is hard to say why she was the way she was. She died what appears to be a sad end in her 40's. In our culture there seems to be as much appeal for sad endings as there is for success stories. But, as I myself get older, and having had two close, smart, devestatingly gorgeous glamour girls of my own who met tragic ends through drugs and alcohol, I see nothing but sadness in loss of this kind, there is no glamour in it. Unlike Marilyn Monroe, who arguably was touched by God, the likes of Nico, Edie, Gia, and many before and after them, will more than likely only be remembered by their families and those that knew their names , all of whom are diminishing with time. However, this film is of interest not only because it's the story of beauty lost, but it is well crafted and scored. All said, the overwhelming feeling of a life squandered and burned out too soon will probably prevent me from viewing it again.
Rating:
Summary: revealing insights into nico's life
Review: Icon no, iconoclast yes. Inside joke no, inside brilliance that self-destructed yes. Failure no, otherwise why are we talking about her today. Now that we've got that settled, the DVD is a little short on biographical information, and sometimes the background music drowns out the dialogue a bit. But overall very artistically put together. Some really good interviews, like with with the German aunt who raised her, which was quite moving. Coverage of her years as a model was excellent. Coverage of her time in Andy Warhol's Factory and in the following few years through Marble Index and Desert Shore could have been a bit more detailed, but there were some really interesting vignettes of the era. One assertion stated, by whom I forget, is, I believe, a bit off-base. I don't believe she started her son on heroin, eventhough she did use it with him. Parenthetically, I find it interesting that we don't forgive Nico for the same excesses as her male counterparts. I'm no women's liber, but I agree with the reviewer from Seattle who hit that issue dead on. A really good DVD for Nico fans; her music is brilliant and that's what it's all about. She might have had a moment's more happiness if she had known how well she actually did succeed in the long run. The fact that her music is enjoying a rebirth, as for example in the soundtrack for the "The Royal Tenenbaums," makes this DVD topical to say the least.
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