CHEZ NICOLE

In CHEZ NICOLE we make the brief acquaintance with Nicole, born in France as Lionel. She welcomes the filmmaker Viki Kühn — and through her camera, also us — to her home, to her small, simply-furnished apartment, and offers a look into her life. Nicole dances in her bedroom or in her kitchen, presenting different clothing, which she first discusses with Viki Kühn. The filmmaker occasionally asks a question or comments—but it is mainly Nicole who talks from off-camera, recalling her childhood, and telling us what she thinks about men. It’s a snapshot composed of image and sound fragments. The setting is shaped by subtle paradoxes and contradictions. For example, the space is cleared out, but there is not enough room to dance. The rooms are flooded with light but still have several bourgeois props. And while Nicole is on her mobile phone, a supposedly old-fashioned kitchen clock ticks loud and demonstratively in the background, after all, time is flying by, and Nicole is already over seventy.
The film ends with a scene in which Nicole is putting on makeup. She arranges the pots of cosmetics in front of her on the table, and then gets to work, concentrated, with dedication and pleasure. She puts cream on her hands—rubs her hands. Here it becomes clear: when Lionel became Nicole, a person was freed of their history, of abuse, of all sorts of constraints. And now Nicole is dancing on her bed—and in doing so, making room for herself in the narrowness of this world—to Milow’s interpretation of “Ayo Technology”: “I have no trouble with you fucking me, but I have a little problem with you not fucking me.” She puts on a serious face. Nicole has finally become a person, and mainly, she wants to be taken seriously.

(Sylvia Szely)

Translation: Lisa Rosenblatt


Nicole used to be a cleaning lady, transsexual, prisoner of war for two years in the Algerian war, extreme sports athlete, and was married to a woman on two occasions. Nicole is the father of four daughters and has been a woman for seven years now. She is 74 years old and often lonely. She lives in a small apartment in Vienna. Nicole loves dancing …

(Viennale Catoge, 2012)