Cheap Nico-Icon (DVD) (Nico) (Susanne Ofteringer) Price

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NICO IN EXILE
Nico's voice bellows like a dark sea breeze, recalling tales of lives smashed against the rocks of popular culture. Her pump organ wheezes, gasping for breath, pleading with the listener to share its melancholic notes as Nico herself draws closer to the cold heart of the tempest. Nico Icon depicts the life of an exceptionally talented artist who took great risks in her life as well as her music. Through the looking glass, we see Nico orbitng around the likes of Warhol and the factory cronies, only to later emerge in a solar system of her own creation. Nico was perhaps the epitomy of a lost generation, but she sings from experience, and with a heart that has broken more times than the needle that kept Nico chasing heroin and life.

Fascinating glimpse into Nico¿s life
This documentary was filmed a few years after her death. Several people who knew her well are interviewed -- members of her band (both Velvet Underground and musicians who toured with her in the 1970s and 1980s), friends, her only child, Ari, and an aunt who helped raise her. "Unconventional" seems to be an understatement of her persona. One man who is described as a bohemian who apparently knew her before her Velvet Underground days, says that no one liked Nico and Nico liked no one. I'm don't think that's true, but the appearance is that she really didn't like herself, and that may be manifested in her habitual drug abuse and addiction. In the film, we learn that she introduced her young son to heroin, which resulted in his falling in a coma. When she visited him in the hospital, she brought a tape recorder and recorded the sound of his life support machine so she could use it on her next album. Nico's aunt from Germany, who helped raise her, gave some information on her early life. Nico was born in the 1930s and it sounds like she had to grow up in a hurry during WW II and even afterwards. There are film footage and stills from Nico's modeling days in the late 50s and early 60s. In her later days, one guy who toured with her said that she drew a knife and threatened to kill the driver of the band's van. I think it was the same guy who said that after being primarily noted for her physical beauty in her younger life, she was now proud of her rotting teeth and bad skin. She was clearly a troubled woman yet there is undoubtedly something mysterious about her that drew people to her.

Some of the information in the film is very touching about Nico. But when we learn that she was irresponsible with raising her young son and other disturbing incidents, it's difficult to not to get angry with her actions. Nevertheless, it is heartwarming to hear her son (now in his late 30s) very proudly exclaim, "My mother was an artist." It's clear that he loved her. When asked, in a later interview, what her one regret in life was, Nico replied that she wish she had been born a man instead of a woman.

This documentary touches on many aspects of Nico's life, and love it or hate it, I do think it's an excellent video for anyone even mildly interested in the dark German chanteuse. I also think that it's important to remember that people's opinions and perceptions of Nico are only that and not hard, cold facts. To think otherwise would be injustice to someone who can no longer speak for herself.