| Director | Susanna Nicchiarelli |
|---|---|
| Genre | biographical film, musical film |
| Runtime | 94 min |
| Country | Belgium, Italy |
| Box office | $83,558 |
During World War II, a young Christa Päffgen watches Berlin being bombed from a distance.
In 1988, Päffgen—now known as Nico—is living in Manchester. Having risen to fame as a model and a singer for the Velvet Underground, she is tired of talking about her past and prefers to revel in her current image as a bohemian artist. She plans to embark on tour of Europe with her new manager, Richard. He assembles a band for her and they set off on the road. Nico's addiction to heroin soon proves to be a problem: she is rude to Richard, delivers abrasive performances and angrily berates her band during a concert in Italy before storming off stage. However, she forms a close friendship with Dome La Muerte who tries to focus her attention on performing. Nico confides to him that she enjoys living a life of excess having experienced hunger and poverty in the aftermath of the war.
Before a concert in Paris, Nico mentions her son Ari during an interview and explains she was too wild to have a child at the time of his birth. She goes to visit him in an institution in France where he has been placed due to a suicide attempt and drug addiction. Richard agrees to a have Nico perform a guerrilla gig in communist Czechoslovakia at the behest of local dissident artists. Before the performance, Nico becomes angry when she cannot procure heroin and accuses the hosts of stealing her passport. Richard sternly reminds her that there are people around the world who still love her music and that the Czechoslovak audience are taking a risk to see her perform. During the gig, Nico delivers a passionate performance to the delight of the crowd but the gig is brought to an abrupt halt as police raid the venue.
Nico and her band manage to escape to West Germany where they plan for Nico's final tour performance in West Berlin. Richard praises her performance and agrees to help her get clean and retrieve Ari from the institution. Things start going well for Nico and her band as she gives up drugs, but Ari attempts suicide and is placed in hospital. Nico states to Dome that she plans to retire from performing so she can grow old elegantly. Ari is released from hospital and Richard encourages him and Nico to take a long holiday to recuperate. He negotiates a new contract with Nico before she departs ensuring that she and Ari receive their share of royalties from her days with The Velvet Underground and they promise to record a new album together upon her return.
Nico travels to Ibiza for her holiday, but as revealed in the credits, she died on the island on 18 July 1988 at the age of 49 following a cycling accident.