''Nico, 1988'' is a 2017
biographical
A biography, or simply bio, is a detailed description of a person's life. It involves more than just the basic facts like education, work, relationships, and death; it portrays a person's experience of these life events. Unlike a profile or ...
drama
Drama is the specific mode of fiction represented in performance: a play, opera, mime, ballet, etc., performed in a theatre, or on radio or television.Elam (1980, 98). Considered as a genre of poetry in general, the dramatic mode has been ...
film written and directed by
Susanna Nicchiarelli
Susanna Nicchiarelli (; born 6 May 1975) is an Italian director, actress and screenwriter.
Biography
Nicchiarelli graduated in Philosophy at the Sapienza University in Rome and gained a PhD in Philosophy at the Scuola Normale in Pisa and a Di ...
. A co-production between Italy and Belgium, the film chronicles the last year of the life of German singer and model
Nico
Naftiran Intertrade Company Société à responsabilité limitée#In Switzerland, limited (NICO) is a Switzerland, Swiss-based subsidiary of the National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC). NICO is a general contractor for the oil and gas industry. NIOC bu ...
.
It had its world premiere at the
74th Venice International Film Festival
The 74th annual Venice International Film Festival was held from 30 August to 9 September 2017. The jury president was announced as the actress Annette Bening on 5 July 2017. '' Downsizing'', directed by Alexander Payne, was selected to open ...
on 30 August 2017, and was released theatrically in Italy on 12 October 2017 by I Wonder Pictures.
Plot
During
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
, a young Christa Päffgen watches
Berlin
Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...
being bombed from a distance.
In 1988, Päffgen—now known as
Nico
Naftiran Intertrade Company Société à responsabilité limitée#In Switzerland, limited (NICO) is a Switzerland, Swiss-based subsidiary of the National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC). NICO is a general contractor for the oil and gas industry. NIOC bu ...
—is living in
Manchester
Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...
. Having risen to fame as a model and a singer for
the Velvet Underground
The Velvet Underground was an American rock band formed in New York City in 1964. The original line-up consisted of singer/guitarist Lou Reed, multi-instrumentalist John Cale, guitarist Sterling Morrison, and drummer Angus MacLise. MacLise w ...
, she is tired of talking about her past and prefers to revel in her current image as a bohemian artist. She plans to embark on tour of Europe with her new manager, Richard. He assembles a band for her and they set off on the road. Nico's addiction to heroin soon proves to be a problem: she is rude to Richard, delivers abrasive performances and angrily berates her band during a concert in Italy before storming off stage. However, she forms a close friendship with
Dome La Muerte who tries to focus her attention on performing. Nico confides to him that she enjoys living a life of excess having experienced hunger and poverty in the aftermath of the war.
Before a concert in
Paris
Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...
, Nico mentions her son
Ari
Ari may refer to:
People and fictional characters
* Ari (name), a name in various languages, including a list of people and fictional characters
* Rabbi Isaac Luria (1534–1572), Jewish rabbinical scholar and mystic known also as Ari
* Ari (foot ...
during an interview and explains she was too wild to have a child at the time of his birth. She goes to visit him in an institution in France where he has been placed due to a suicide attempt and drug addiction. Richard agrees to a have Nico perform a
guerrilla gig
A guerrilla gig is a type of concert performed in a non-traditional setting or arranged in an unusual fashion. It became associated with punk rock, and noise rock bands in UK and the United States during the early to mid-2000s. Bands who perform ...
in communist
Czechoslovakia
, rue, Чеськословеньско, , yi, טשעכאסלאוואקיי,
, common_name = Czechoslovakia
, life_span = 1918–19391945–1992
, p1 = Austria-Hungary
, image_p1 ...
at the behest of local dissident artists. Before the performance, Nico becomes angry when she cannot procure heroin and accuses the hosts of stealing her passport. Richard sternly reminds her that there are people around the world who still love her music and that the Czechoslovakian audience are taking a risk to see her perform. During the gig, Nico delivers a passionate performance to the delight of the crowd but the gig is brought to an abrupt halt as police raid the venue.
Nico and her band manage to escape to
West Germany
West Germany is the colloquial term used to indicate the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG; german: Bundesrepublik Deutschland , BRD) between its formation on 23 May 1949 and the German reunification through the accession of East Germany on 3 O ...
where they plan for Nico's final tour performance in
West Berlin
West Berlin (german: Berlin (West) or , ) was a political enclave which comprised the western part of Berlin during the years of the Cold War. Although West Berlin was de jure not part of West Germany, lacked any sovereignty, and was under mi ...
. Richard praises her performance and agrees to help her get clean and retrieve Ari from the institution. Things start going well for Nico and her band as she gives up drugs, but Ari attempts suicide and is placed in hospital. Nico states to Dome that she plans to retire from performing so she can grow old elegantly. Ari is released from hospital and Richard encourages him and Nico to take a long holiday to recuperate. He negotiates a new contract with Nico before she departs ensuring that she and Ari receive their share of royalties from her days with The Velvet Underground and they promise to record a new album together upon her return.
Nico travels to
Ibiza
Ibiza (natively and officially in ca, Eivissa, ) is a Spanish island in the Mediterranean Sea off the eastern coast of the Iberian Peninsula. It is from the city of Valencia. It is the third largest of the Balearic Islands, in Spain. Its l ...
for her holiday, but as revealed in the credits, she died on the island on 18 July 1988 at the age of 49 following a cycling accident.
Cast
*
Trine Dyrholm
Trine Dyrholm (; born 15 April 1972) is a Danish actress, singer and songwriter. Dyrholm received national recognition when she placed third in the Dansk Melodi Grand Prix as a 14-year-old singer. Four years later, she again achieved national re ...
as
Nico
Naftiran Intertrade Company Société à responsabilité limitée#In Switzerland, limited (NICO) is a Switzerland, Swiss-based subsidiary of the National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC). NICO is a general contractor for the oil and gas industry. NIOC bu ...
*
John Gordon Sinclair
John Gordon Sinclair (born Gordon John Sinclair; 4 February 1962) is a Scottish actor, voice actor, singer, and novelist. He is best known for portraying Gregory in the 1981 film ''Gregory's Girl''. There was a Gordon Sinclair already registere ...
as Richard
*
Anamaria Marinca
Anamaria Marinca (born 1 April 1978) is a Romanian actress. She made her screen debut with the Channel 4 film ''Sex Traffic'', for which she won the British Academy Television Award for Best Actress. Marinca is also known for her performance in ...
as Sylvia
*
Sandor Funtek
Sandor Funtek () is a French actor.
His father, an artist, originated from Hungary, while his mother, also an artist, was from a French-speaking background.
His first lead role is in ' (originally ''L'enkas'' or ''The Truk'') (2019).
Roles Film
...
as
Ari
Ari may refer to:
People and fictional characters
* Ari (name), a name in various languages, including a list of people and fictional characters
* Rabbi Isaac Luria (1534–1572), Jewish rabbinical scholar and mystic known also as Ari
* Ari (foot ...
* as
Domenico
Domenico is an Italian given name for males and may refer to:
People
* Domenico Alfani, Italian painter
* Domenico Allegri, Italian composer
* Domenico Alvaro, Italian mobster
* Domenico Ambrogi, Italian painter
* Domenico Auria, Italian archit ...
*
Karina Fernandez
Karina Fernandez is a British actress. She is best known for her performances in three of Mike Leigh's films – '' Another Year'' and '' Happy-Go-Lucky'' and '' Mr. Turner''. Fernandez graduated from Drama Centre London. She is an instructor at ...
as Laura
*
Calvin Demba
Calvin Demba is an English actor, writer and director. He is best known for his roles in ''Youngers'' and ''Life''.
Early life
Demba was born and raised in East London. From the age of 17, Demba attended The Half Moon youth theatre in Limehous ...
as Alex
* as Francesco
Production
The film was a collaboration between the director and main actress
Trine Dyrholm
Trine Dyrholm (; born 15 April 1972) is a Danish actress, singer and songwriter. Dyrholm received national recognition when she placed third in the Dansk Melodi Grand Prix as a 14-year-old singer. Four years later, she again achieved national re ...
; they co-created the character. Dyrholm stated, "We created this version of Nico together". Dyrholm sang all the songs in the film; she restructured the music with a musician and a band. They worked into a music studio before shooting. Nicchiarelli did a lot of research and she flew to Manchester to meet Nico's manager. She also interviewed Nico's son, Ari. He read the first draft and later the final script.
[IFFR Live: Nico, 1988 interactive Q&A with Susanna Nicchiarelli and Trine Dyrholm](_blank)
YouTube. 7 February 2018. Retrieved 8 August 2018.
The film was shot in the
square format instead of rectangular format. Nicchiarelli explained, "One of the main choices was the atmosphere of the second half of the 1980s which is very interesting; it has the decadence and the quality of the
VHS. They worked on the quality of the VHS and tried to reproduce that, that kind of feeling. VHS and television are square format and it forces you to stay on the characters. I think it is interesting when cinema goes back to the square. Lately, some of the best films I've seen are square".
Nicchiarelli used images of the real Nico's face and early video footage of
Jonas Mekas
Jonas Mekas (; December 24, 1922 – January 23, 2019) was a Lithuanian-American filmmaker, poet, and artist who has been called "the godfather of American avant-garde cinema". Mekas' work has been exhibited in museums and at festivals worldwi ...
. She wrote to him and he answered her immediately. Nicchiarelli said, "It is fun to work with archive material in fiction movies".
Release
''Nico, 1988'' had its world premiere in the
Horizons section of the
74th Venice International Film Festival
The 74th annual Venice International Film Festival was held from 30 August to 9 September 2017. The jury president was announced as the actress Annette Bening on 5 July 2017. '' Downsizing'', directed by Alexander Payne, was selected to open ...
on 30 August 2017. The film was released theatrically in Italy on 12 October 2017 by I Wonder Pictures. In the United States, it was released on 1 August 2018 by
Magnolia Pictures
Magnolia Pictures is an American film distributor. It is a subsidiary of Mark Cuban and Todd Wagner's 2929 Entertainment.
Magnolia was formed in 2001 by Bill Banowsky and Eamonn Bowles, and specializes in both foreign and independent films. Mag ...
.
Reception
On the
review aggregator
A review aggregator is a system that collects reviews of products and services (such as films, books, video games, software, hardware, and cars). This system stores the reviews and uses them for purposes such as supporting a website where users ...
website
Rotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...
, the film holds an approval rating of 93% based on 76 reviews, with an average rating of 7/10. The website's critics consensus reads, "''Nico, 1988'' takes an absorbing – and appropriately idiosyncratic – look at the singer's later years."
Metacritic
Metacritic is a website that review aggregator, aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted arithmetic mean, weighted average). M ...
, which uses a
weighted average
The weighted arithmetic mean is similar to an ordinary arithmetic mean (the most common type of average), except that instead of each of the data points contributing equally to the final average, some data points contribute more than others. The ...
, assigned the film a score of 75 out of 100, based on 21 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".
Dyrholm, who played Nico, received critical acclaim for her performance.
Owen Gleiberman
Owen Gleiberman (born February 24, 1959) is an American film critic who has been chief film critic for ''Variety'' magazine since May 2016, a title he shares with . Previously, Gleiberman wrote for ''Entertainment Weekly'' from 1990 until 2014. ...
of ''
Variety
Variety may refer to:
Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats
* Variety (radio)
* Variety show, in theater and television
Films
* ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont
* ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...
'' hailed her as "a powerhouse of authenticity. Her moroseness is mesmerizing, but she also gives Nico a tense intelligence, and her singing is uncanny."
Kenneth Turan
Kenneth Turan (; born October 27, 1946) is an American retired film critic, author, and lecturer in the Master of Professional Writing Program at the University of Southern California. He was a film critic for the ''Los Angeles Times'' from 1991 ...
of the ''
Los Angeles Times
The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the Un ...
'' also praised Dyrholm as "an actress of formidable presence", giving a "strong, truthful, unflinching performance that powers the film the way Christa's energy powered the bands she was in those late days". Jeannette Catsoulis of ''
The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'' also praised how Dyrholm was photographed in "brutally unforgiving close-up", saying that it "fully captures the faded charisma of the singer" in the last year of her existence.
Joe Morgenstern
Joe Morgenstern (born October 3, 1932) is an American writer and retired film critic. He wrote for ''Newsweek'' from 1965 to 1983, and then for ''The Wall Street Journal'' from 1995 to 2022. He won the Pulitzer Prize for Criticism in 2005. Morgen ...
of ''
The Wall Street Journal
''The Wall Street Journal'' is an American business-focused, international daily newspaper based in New York City, with international editions also available in Chinese and Japanese. The ''Journal'', along with its Asian editions, is published ...
'' wrote, "I've never seen a performance quite like it — unsparingly harsh, but also graceful, droll and tender, a portrait of soul-weariness laced with a yearning for salvation."
At the Venice Film Festival in 2017, it won the Orrizonti Award for Best Film. At
the Donatellos in 2018, it won the Best Original Script award, and was nominated in the Best Films category. At the
9th Magritte Awards
The 9th Magritte Awards ceremony, presented by the Académie André Delvaux, honored the best films of 2018 in Belgium and took place on 2 February 2019 at the Square in the historic site of Mont des Arts, Brussels, beginning at 8:00 p.m. CET ...
, it received a nomination in the category of
Best Foreign Film in Coproduction.
References
External links
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{{Susanna Nicchiarelli
2017 films
2017 biographical drama films
2010s drama road movies
2010s English-language films
2010s historical drama films
2010s Italian films
Belgian historical drama films
Belgian biographical drama films
Biographical films about actors
Biographical films about singers
Cultural depictions of actors
Cultural depictions of German women
Cultural depictions of rock musicians
English-language Belgian films
English-language Italian films
Films directed by Susanna Nicchiarelli
Films set in the 1980s
Films shot in Bavaria
Italian biographical drama films
Italian historical drama films
Films set in 1988