The film chronicles the last years of the life of singer Nico (played by Danish actress Trine Dyrholm), as she tours and grapples with addiction and personal demons. Set between Paris, Prague, Nuremberg, Manchester, the Polish countryside and the Roman seaside, Nico, 1988 is dedicated to the last years of Christa Päffgen, known by her stage name “Nico”. One of Warhol's muses, singer of The Velvet Underground and a beautiful woman in her younger years. However, in this film, she´s 48 and no longer a beauty.

The film is the story of Nico's last tours with the band that accompanied her around Europe in the late Eighties: years in which the "priestess of darkness", as she was called, found herself again, and rebuilding the relationship with her only forgotten son, Ari (son of Alain Delon). It is the story of a rebirth, of an artist, of a mother, of the woman far from what she was as an icon.

The singer , I would think, is the precursor of Punk and Metallic Rock music, and although this isn´t my cup of tea, she somewhat became an icon because of Warhol and the The Velvet Underground. In fact, one of the characters in the film comments: "Her music is hideous."

However, award-winning director Nicchiarelli is able to deliver. I would give this film 7 out of 10 stars.

OPENING DATES:

August 17th, 2018
TIFF Bell Lightbox (Toronto, ON)
Vancity Theatre (Vancouver, BC)
Globe Cinema (Calgary, AB)

August 24th, 2018
Broadway Theatre (Saskatoon, SK)

August 31st, 2018
Cinema du Parc (Montreal, QC)
Cinema le Clap (Quebec City, QC)

© 2018 Ed Farolan