The sound of defeat: Nico, 1988
image generated by Craiyon This review was originally posted on Letterboxd ~ There is a scene in Susanna Nicchiarelli's dramatization of the final years of Christa Päffgen (better known by her stage name - Nico) when the singer is being interviewed on the radio. The DJ mentions the enormous portable cassette recorder, that she carries around with her in an oversized shoulder bag, and enquires whether she is looking for a specific sound. Nico replies that she searching for a sound that she heard as a child, carried to her on the wind: The sound of Berlin being bombed by the allies. “It was a sound that wasn't really a sound,” she reminisces. “It was, many things at the same time. It was... It was the sound of defeat.” By the late 1980s, Nico was 20 years past her prime. A former model and actress. In the early 1960s, she had embarked upon a career as a singer, despite a perforated eardrum that, combined with her heavy German accent, sometimes resulted in her vocal performances s...