The Nomi Song (2004)

A lot of perfectly good film show their cards early, establish a unique premise and let the audience explore a topic at a leisurely pace, without much in terms of surprise. this film is not one of those films.

The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.

An old-fashioned movie made with new-fashioned finesse.

It's simply great fun, a winsome film and an occasionally over-the-top luxury fantasy that never flags.

Before I saw this documentary, I'd never heard of Klaus Nomi--even though I lived through the time period in which he gained underground fame in New York and abroad. What I remember instead are the New Wave acts that followed in his footsteps--groups that imitated his weird stage routine, makeup and costumes. Probably the closest to Nomi that I remember was Grace Jones, though the hair and costumes of A Flock of Seagulls also had to have been influenced by Nomi as well. As for David Bowie, it's hard to tell how much Nomi influenced him or vice-versa as both had a rather similar "other-worldliness" about them in the 1970s.What completely set this man apart, including from the people listed above, was his bizarre singing. Having had aspirations to do opera and having a very, very high-pitched voice (almost like one of the castrati), his singing was something unmatched then or today. Some of this could be because few could imitate the style and some because it was so strange and outside the mainstream you wonder if there'd even be a market for this sort of music. It was interesting and wild--though, to me, not especially something I would like to listen to for long.This documentary is about his life--particularly after he came to America in the early 70s. His life in Greenwich Village among the artsy crowd, his rise to prominence in what was to be termed the "New Wave" and his ultimate fall when he just started to achieve fame are all chronicled here. A sad piece, but I also appreciated how the film makers didn't just whitewash the man--giving a hint to the darker aspects of this strange man (such as the repeated theft of his friend's music).How the story was told was done well, though there were limits since the video recordings of Nomi were often of poor quality due to the technology of the time. Also, in a VERY strange move, old audio interviews with his aunt were used but in an odd way. Since they had no video, they created sets and used a large cut-out of her! Weird, but considering Nomi's legacy, probably appropriate.Considering that I didn't know about Nomi and was not so taken by his music, you'd expect I wouldn't really care for the film, but this would be mistaken. It was nice from a nostalgic point of view for this 40-something guy and the film was well-constructed. Well worth a look if you like documentaries AND want something different....VERY different.

The one thing that everyone can say about the film making genre is that there IS something for everyone. There should be NO argument - film making can entertain, it can educate, it can caution and it can enlighten. This is a documentary that touches a bit on all of those things.You didn't have to be a youngster like me in the 80's going to New York to 'club' to feel the sentimentality of this artist within this film. I wanted to know what happened to Klaus Nomi -- and here is where I found out. From the first moment I saw Klaus, I knew he was onto something special - something new that would be hard for record marketers to categorize but God bless him for picking through all of that and still managing to have an impact career and focus on 80's "New Wave".He was different, brilliant, talented and...strange. He and his artists/band did things no one else did back then - but you had to see it, be a part of to understand. Yes, I was a Nomi fan. I remember the "Saturday Night Live" appearance with David Bowie.By the time "Urgh - A Music War" came out, I thought that would have made him a household name --- and an entertainment star. I had no idea what happened to him, Now I do. A sad, tragic ending to something that seems to have gone rampid in the late 70's and 80's - overly wonderful, talented artists looking for love - and ending up in tragedy for the one thing that everyone should safely have.Told by the people who were around him and knew him best, this documentary on Klaus Nomi tells of a man with the highest castrato operatic voice to hit 'pop' and an artistry that was in the furthest corners of the imagination that made it to the club scenes of the early 80's. And let's be honest - it was all conceived in black and white in a very colorful world. A fiercely unapproachable man who could bake one minute and astound you the next. His vision, the songwriting of him and his other collaborators, we had 80's clubbing fun - and 80's tragedy.One of the better documentaries that captures the beginning of the 'New Wave' wave before MTV commercialism and the influx of non-talented folks and alleged female bands who could look great in front of a camera with studio folks starting them out and them learning to play later, here was the "real deal".A good history lesson in 80's music (and art) touching upon the back stabbers, the brink of success, the talented, the idealistic, the weird and bizarre, the hanger-ons, the work, the sacrifice, the seriously talented, and a cautionary tale as well.

My husband and I were eagerly anticipating THE NOMI SONG, Andrew Horn's by-turns witty and poignant documentary about Klaus Nomi, the German singer/performance artist with the multi-octave range who took New York and then the world by storm for a brief, exciting period in the 1980s. Nomi, with his outer space alien persona, was so avant-garde even the avant-garde set wasn't quite sure what to make of him, but loved him all the same before his tragic death from AIDS (this was back when AIDS was still new and scary and known as "gay cancer"). Our 8-year-old daughter liked Nomi's "high, high voice" and kooky costumes. We adults liked the interviews with Ann Magnuson and other scene-makers from the era, as well as the chance to see such rarities as Nomi's performance with David Bowie on a 1979 SNL episode (which I remember seeing during its live broadcast back in the day). THE NOMI SONG also sports a treasure trove of DVD extras, including full-length musical performances, an Easter Egg feature for part-time pastry chef Nomi's lime tart recipe, and Lou Christie talking enthusiastically about Nomi's cover of his classic "Lightning Strikes Again" (Christie kinda starts talking about himself, too, but it's interesting and endearing). If you like 1980s New Wave music and all things offbeat, THE NOMI SONG is well worth seeking out!

This is a remarkable compilation of interviews, live shows, home videos, and more all bringing together the short but phenomenal career of Klaus Nomi.Though it seems blatantly low-budget, it keeps in vein with the atmosphere of the time and the storyline falls into place artfully but logically. I was very impressed by the vast amount of material that was found to put into this documentary; being a Klaus Nomi fan myself I know it's extremely hard to get your hands on this sort of thing... well, here it is!The only thing I could've asked to improve as far as this movie goes was a better remaster of the audio - a lot of it was out of sync, a common problem that is easily fixed. Maybe we can look forward to that on later releases or perhaps the DVD? In any case, I still love it, 9 out of 10 stars.