Nico, 1988 (2017)

The last year of singer Nico's life, as she tours and grapples with addiction and personal demons.

Director:

Susanna Nicchiarelli

Writer:

Susanna Nicchiarelli

Stars:

Trine Dyrholm, John Gordon Sinclair, Anamaria Marinca

10 wins & 20 nominations.

Cast

Credited cast:
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
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Freddy Drabble	...	First Radio interviewer
Matt Patresi	...	Second radio interviewer

Storyline

The last year of singer Nico's life, as she tours and grapples with addiction and personal demons.

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Plot Keywords:

year 1986 | year 1987 | what happened to epilogue | rome italy | prague czechoslovakia | 

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Taglines:

The last year's of an inspiration of punk.

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Genres:

Biography | Drama | Music

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for drug use, language, and some sexuality

Details

Official Sites:

Vivo Film

Country:

Italy Belgium

Language:

English German Czech French

Release Date:

1 August 2018 (USA)

Also Known As:

Niko, 1988

Filming Locations:

Reichsparteitag-Gelände, Nuremberg, Bavaria, Germany

Box Office

Opening Weekend USA:

$12,309, 5 August 2018, Limited Release

Gross USA:

$73,304, 7 October 2018

Company Credits

Production Co:

Vivo Film, Tarantula, Rai Cinema

Technical Specs

Runtime:

93 min

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

John Waters named this among his top ten favorite films of 2018.

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Quotes

Christa Päffgen a.k.a Nico: Am I ugly?
Richard: Yes. Really.
Christa Päffgen a.k.a Nico: Good. I wasn't happy when I was beautiful.

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Soundtracks

My Heart is Empty
Performed by Trine Dyrholm

User Reviews

Insightful look at the last 2 years of Nico

"Nico, 1988" (2017 Italian-Belgian co-production; 93 min.) is a bio-pick that examines the last 2 years of Nico, the German singer/performer who because instantly famous in the mid/late 60s for her association with Andy Warhol and of course her collaboration with The Velvet Underground. As the movie opens, we are told it is "1986" and we get to know Nico, who is moving into a small and unremarkable house in gray and gloomy Manchester, England. She is about to tour with her new band, made up mostly of second or third rate musicians, but her manager can't afford better. Along the way we see Nico struggling with her heroin addiction. At this point we are 10 min. into the movie, but to tell you more of the plot would spoil your viewing experience, you'll just have to see for yourself how it all plays out.

Couple of comments: this movie is directed by directed by Susanna Nicchiarelli, whom I admit I am not familiar with. In fact, much of this Italian-Belgian co-production features a cast of unknowns, except for Danish actress Trine Dyrholm in the title role (we saw her most recently in the excellent "The Commune"). Dryholme is absolutely sensational as the latter day Nico, and she carries the movie on her shoulders (she is in virtually every frame of the movie). On top of that, Dryholm also does her own singing of the various songs from Nico's solo albums that we hear and watch throughout the movie). Is everything that we watch in this film truly an accurate reflection of how those last two years of Nico's life? I haven't a clue, but one does get the sense that there is a good overall narrative in this film, for whatever that's worth.

I likely would've missed this film but for the fact that during a recent family visit to Belgium, I heard about this and then read an interview with Trine Dyrholm in a Belgian magazine. The movie opened the very weekend I was there. The Friday early evening screening where I saw this at in Antwerp, Belgium, was attended okay but not great. That's hardly a surprise as this isn't the type of movie that will find a large mainstream audience. But if you are interested in learning more about Nico's latter years in life, you could do a lot worse than watching this movie, and hence I'd readily recommended you do (I have my doubts this will get a theatrical release in the US so check it out on VOD or eventually on DVD/Blu-ray).