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Nomi Song, The
Palm Pictures


8.1

based on 18 reviews
Read critic reviews
How did we calculate this?

based on 7 votes
Read user comments
Rate this movie

MPAA RATING: Not Rated

Starring Klaus Nomi, Ann Magnuson, Gabriele Lafari, David McDermott, Page Wood, Tony Frere, Man Parrish, and Kristian Hoffman

A portrait of late German artist Klaus Nomi, this film is part documentary, part music film, part sci-fi, The Nomi Song is a "non-fiction film," or maybe even an oral history. It's not just the tale, it's the telling. (Palm Pictures)

GENRE(S):	Documentary \| Foreign \| Musical
WRITTEN BY:	Andrew Horn
DIRECTED BY:	Andrew Horn
RELEASE DATE:	DVD: June 14, 2005 Theatrical: February 4, 2005
RUNNING TIME:	96 minutes, Color
ORIGIN:	Germany
LANGUAGE(S):	English / German

Teddy Award, Best Documentary Film, 2004 Berlin International Film Festival

All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...

Entertainment Weekly Owen Gleiberman

Forget Devo, Nico, Bowie, or Beefheart: The most mesmerizing freak show in the history of rock & roll was Klaus Nomi.

Variety Leslie Felperin

An absorbing homage to obscure but fascinating late '70s-early '80s German stage artiste Klaus Nomi.

Village Voice J. Hoberman

Made with considerable wit and style, Horn's thoughtful celebration of the era and its most uncanny diva could function as the show's ("East Village USA") supplement.

Los Angeles Times Kevin Crust

Horn, who knew Nomi, does an excellent job of evoking the exhilaratingly hedonistic period the film covers as well as the long shadow that the coming of AIDS casts over it.

Wall Street Journal Joe Morgenstern

Intriguing and affecting documentary.

Austin Chronicle Marc Savlov

Thankfully, The Nomi Song should go a long way toward re-cementing this striking creature's legendary status.

Boston Globe Ty Burr

Succeeds at its main tasks. It re-creates new wave New York with Proustian force, from the Kiev (the diner) to Fiorucci (the clothing store).

San Francisco Chronicle Neva Chonin

With The Nomi Song, Horn does more than simply pay homage to a late artist. He uses his subject to revisit the euphoria of artistic and musical culture at a crossroads, and in the process brings it, briefly and poignantly, back to life again.

The Hollywood Reporter Michael Rechtshaffen

The film fittingly embraces the elements of camp and kitsch that played such a major role in defining the Nomi persona.

Chicago Reader Andrea Gronvall

Andrew Horn, writer of “East Side Story,” directs, stylishly.

The Onion (A.V. Club) Keith Phipps

Without coming out and saying it, The Nomi Song creates the sense that its subject might simply have been a few hundred years ahead of his time.

LA Weekly Ernest Hardy

Dazzles with rare performance footage.

The New York Times Dana Stevens

An affectionate portrait, not only of Nomi, but also of the long-gone days when downtown Manhattan was an affordable enclave for creative misfits.

Seattle Post-Intelligencer Bill White

A cross between David Bowie and Maria Callas, the German singer took androgyny to an unearthly level.

New York Daily News Elizabeth Weitzman

Occasionally exhilarating documentary.

New York Post Debra Birnbaum

Horn bookends his documentary with clips from "It Came From Outer Space."

TV Guide Maitland McDonagh

And if you never learn much about the man behind the mask, well, that's as Nomi would have wanted it.

Washington Post Michael O'Sullivan

There remains a maddening emptiness where the film's ostensible subject should be.

The average user rating for this movie is 8.1 (out of 10) based on 7 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.

Kristin V. gave it a10:
I was intrigued with this movie after hearing it won Best Documentary at the Berlin Festival. I was so glad i heard about it through that - because it truely is a work of art. Director Andrew Horn was able to show the life of a rising musician who unfortunatly lost his life at an early age. However Horn shows through the documentary how nomi lived his life to the fullest, and made his place in the world and how NYC was the best place for Nomi to be in! I loved the documentary! Leading a unique life made this a unique documentary! 2 thumbs up!!

Alex E. gave it a9:
This film sparkles and pops with electricity. Horn uses Nomi's own devices to great effect--Primarily building a dramatic and superficial edifice with no doors or windows to look inside. Both audiences are lost in their own awe.

Shaun M. gave it a10:
Wonderful moving film of a little known creature in the no-wave scene.

Dany J. gave it a10:
This movie is the best time capsule of the late 70's - early 80's downtown New York club scene - and an affectionate look at one of the neighborhood's most visible kooks. I think it's brilliant.

Robert H. gave it a10:
Anything of Nomi is fantastical!

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Nomi Song, The Palm Pictures

Nomi Song, The
Palm Pictures