A movie by Jacques Poitrenaud ,a third-rate director , whose works are forgotten today;the film seems to belong to the fifties,at a time when they made films to attract the male audience : thus plenty of cabaret acts ,this one perhaps the last of this undistinguished genre ,being the most daring ,showing topless dancers.
And yet ,this is a fascinating work. How come? One of the best sequences , which takes place in the bourgeois milieu,would not be out of place in a Claude Chabrol movie of the golden age ,particularly "la rupture" (="the breach",1970); followed by another act ,in which the heroine humiliates the playboy ,predating the women's lib movement which surfaced in the late sixties .
It must be Nico (here credited under her real name in the French copies;her pseud was reportedly borrowed from her (Greek) lover's name ):she's a legend ,and her character is mainly inspired by her own life : when she hints at her childhood in Koln,Germany ,when she lost everything (her father belonged to a wealthy brewers family, and died in mysterious circumstances ,her mother came from a poorer milieu)she tells her story ;and in the middle of an offbeat cast ,she shines all the way : she's not dubbed in French where she would often stay -she reportedly had a son with Alain Delon ,Ari ,who was brought up by the actor 's mother ;Nico even wrote a little song in French sung by him on her "desert shore" album called "le petit chevalier" (=the little knight"). For that ,I suggest Nico's fans see "Nico icon".
One perceives her firm independence of men ,her contempt for her manager (played by comical actor Darry Cowl) her disgust for her work :she wanted to study to become a ballerina ,but she was outstripped in a ballet by a rival who "slept with the producer" ; one has only eyes for her and her mysterious Gothic beauty shines all along a rather sordid film.
There are actually two artists in the movie : Nico ,who would become famous for her stint with the Velvet Underground -only three songs ,and called "chanteuse" on the sleeve-and make six albums, not very accessible (I suggest an interested person begin with "the end " )The second is singer/songwriter extraordinaire Serge Gainsbourg who wrote the score (including classical music and jazz) and the song over the cast and credits performed by another legend of the chanson française ,Juliette Greco. He appears now and then as a piano player.
A most offbeat cast surrounds Nico:Dany Saval,who would marry a very famous French TV host , recalled prestigious Arletty , and Jean Tissier appears as an old tired beau who seems to wonder:"what am I doing here?"
Nico's admirers should see this film ,in spite of its stupid title -which may put off a rock audience-,it's not Fellini's "la dolce vita" ,but the German artist
makes it all worthwhile.
