Anita, Dances of Vice

Perhaps the most scandalous woman in 1920s Berlin, Anita Berber was the first exotic dancer to perform nude in public, was openly bisexual, was a heavy cocaine user, and was all the rage. In 1928 she died of tuberculosis. The forgotten star comes alive again in the visions of a loudmouthed, insolent old woman who claims to be Anita. Through her fantasies in a mental institution she recreates the flaming exploits of the star's wild, short life to its bitter end…where she dies again. But Anita Berber will never die. This hit of the New York Film Festival is a study in decadence, madness, and kitsch.