The Nomi Song

2004 "He came from outer space to save the human race. Man or Martian? New wave or opera?"
The Nomi Song
7.4| 1h38m| en| More Info
Released: 08 October 2004 Released
Producted By: Filmstiftung Nordrhein-Westfalen
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Budget: 0
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Synopsis

Looks like an alien, sings like a diva - Klaus Nomi was one of the 1980s' most profoundly bizarre characters to emerge through rock music: a counter tenor who sang pop music like opera and brought opera to club audiences and made them like it. The Nomi Song is a film about fame, death, friendship, betrayal, opera, and the greatest New Wave rock star that never was!

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manicallyhip The Nomi Song is a documentary I would recommend to everyone. It covers the life of Klaus Nomi, the late avant-garde, new wave singer. I knew nothing of Nomi or his life until watching the movie and now I'm fascinated with him. In a time when conformity was the key to success, Nomi challenged the odds. He lived his life the way he wanted. Music became him and it radiated off of him. You can't watch this movie and not feel the passion this man had. It's something so many people lose but it's the only thing that kept Nomi going. Anyone who has ever been touched by music will feel the struggles and triumphs Nomi faced. This film introduces a man that remains a mystery to the world over.
actorman_us Klaus Nomi was certainly an interesting character. Possessing a unique look and a phenomenal voice, he seemed poised for a measure of stardom during the early 1980s. Alas, Nomi was to be one of the first people of note to be struck down by AIDS.This documentary does a very credible job of not only giving us a glimpse into Klaus Nomi, but also giving us a look into the world of the "New Wave" in New York during the late 1970s and early 1980s. It is replete with footage of Nomi in performance, showing off his truly bizarre look and his unbelievable singing voice (Nomi's performance of "The Cold Song," an arrangement of a piece by Henry Purcell, is one of the most beautifully haunting pieces of music I've ever heard).Andrew Horn does a very good job of interspersing interview footage and performance footage. He does, however, misstep in a couple of areas. The use of 1950s Sci-fi footage, used to augment Nomi's ruse of being from outer space, is overdone. Horn apparently feels the need to hammer this motif into the ground. More unusual is the use of paper mache cut-outs used to represent Nomi's aunt, seen as we hear her many comments throughout the film. It is a device as obscure in its intent as it is distracting and annoying in its effect.Overall, this is a good documentary with a pervasive sadness. We lost an amazing voice before it could be heard by the world. It is a well done portrait of a unique character, a colossal talent, and at heart, a lonely man with a sweet, sweet soul.
Cmdr McBragg I just saw this film. I found it exciting, touching, more than a little inspiring, and was impressed by the filmmaker's ability to craft an intimate personal portrait of the man while also rendering a feeling for the period in which he lived.Good times -- will likely get out to see it again before it leaves town.Agree with the original poster: this one seems destined for cult status.PS: Anyone find it odd that saving bandwidth by writing concisely here is punished by IMDb? I love everything else about this site, but the arbitrary requirement that we each become novelists in the mini-reviews is silly, and ultimately counter-productive: is it really so bad if you can say what you need to say in under 10 lines? I pity those who can't, and if IMDb must ban me rather than update their policy to accommodate those who can communicate well, then at least the few of you who read this before they ditched me know that at least I tried.Some businesses learn and adapt. Others ban reality.
k_wedge 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.