Anyone else see The Nomi Song?

[monolith94]

Just saw that it was one of ondemand's free movies available (a good movie? sacre bleu! Finished watching it a few minutes ago, and I found it to be a damn good documentary, perhaps not perfect. There was some really, really good footage of the early years of Klaus Nomi's early avant-garde stuff. A Horatio Alger rise to fame, a life of art and loneliness, a tragic ending, the stuff of melodramatic opera!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uKYpepxGkyY

One interesting thing he does is the song Falling In Love Again, which obviously has alot of connections to his fellow german Marlene Dietrich. I think that in his performance of that, he really touches on her own performance, and captures a little of her whistful, gender-bending appeal.

If you haven't seen it, consider it recommended.

[DSNT]

I have seen it but don't quite share your enthusiasm. While Nomi is a fascinating personality, I thought that the film treated his life more as a freak show. They tend to focus on the shock value and the way others see him rather than trying to penetrate the man himself. In that respect, the movie was tragic, because not only did nobody else understand him, but the viewer didn't either.

I think I ended up giving it a 6/10. Definitely worth watching, but left me wanting.

[Mal]

Very good documentary. Most docs seem similar in tone and execution, but Nomi really took a chance by being organic with the formation of content.
I definitely went ahead and downloaded loads of Nomi songs after it too.

[monolith94]

I have seen it but don't quite share your enthusiasm. While Nomi is a fascinating personality, I thought that the film treated his life more as a freak show. They tend to focus on the shock value and the way others see him rather than trying to penetrate the man himself. In that respect, the movie was tragic, because not only did nobody else understand him, but the viewer didn't either.

I think I ended up giving it a 6/10. Definitely worth watching, but left me wanting.

I can definitely understand that complaint. Perhaps part of the problem was that as a person Klaus Nomi just seemed to be very private, someone who put on a facade and didn't let many people into his private life. But I think there were some nice moments that showed us who he was. For example, when his aunt in Germany talked about his visit to the garden of his youth not long before he died of Aids.

My own perspective on the documentary wasn't that it treated his life like a freak show, but rather it treated him more as a serious artist, although perhaps my own perspective might be forcing that interpretation.

[Qrazy]

I remember really liking the trailer way back when, will check it out.