Jump to content

Anita: Dances of Vice

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Anita: Dances of Vice
Theatrical release poster
Directed byRosa von Praunheim
Screenplay by
  • Rosa von Praunheim
  • Lotti Huber
  • Marianne Enzensberger
  • Hannelene Limpach
Produced byRosa von Praunheim
Starring
  • Lotti Huber
  • Ina Blum
  • Mikael Honesseau
CinematographyElfi Mikesch
Edited by
  • Mike Shephard
  • Rosa von Praunheim
Music by
  • Konrad Elfers
  • Rainer Rubbert
  • Alan Marks
  • Wilhelm Dieter Siebert
  • Ed Lieber
Production
companies
  • Road Movies
  • ZDF
Release date
  • 1987 (1987)
Running time
89 minutes
CountryWest Germany
LanguageGerman

Anita: Dances of Vice (German: Anita – Tänze des Lasters) is a 1987 German avant-garde film directed by Rosa von Praunheim.

The film premiered at the 1987 New York Film Festival and was also shown at, for example, the 1988 São Paulo International Film Festival.[1][2]

Plot

[edit]

The film follows a delusional elderly woman who believes she is Anita Berber (1899-1928), a German dancer who, along with her partner Sebastian Droste, epitomizes the decadence of 1920s Berlin. Nude dance performances, cocaine use, and an excessive sex life characterize their lifestyle. Anita Berber's story is told through the thoughts and memories of the old lady (played by Lotti Huber) who is being held in an "insane asylum". Scenes from Anita's scandalous life are replayed also in her dreams.[3]

Production notes

[edit]

The film is in two parts, with all the scenes in the psychiatric ward being shot in black and white and the scenes from Anita's past in color.

Awards

[edit]

Reception

[edit]

"This hit of the New York Film Festival is a study in decadence, madness, and kitsch." (Cleveland International Film Festival)[5] Time Out magazine wrote: "[...] von Praunheim's film, visually astounding and performed with hilarious conviction, is an exhilarating testament to the power of the imagination."[6]

Notes

[edit]
  1. ^ "ANITA - DANCES OF VICE". Mubi. Retrieved 2022-04-29.
  2. ^ "Rosa and Lotti". The New Yorker. Retrieved 2022-04-29.
  3. ^ Murray, Images in the Dark, p. 108
  4. ^ a b "Rosa von Praunheim - Awards". Internet Movie Database. Retrieved 2022-04-29.
  5. ^ "ANITA, DANCES OF VICE". Cleveland International Film Festival, 1987. Archived from the original on 2022-03-15. Retrieved 2022-04-29.
  6. ^ "Anita: Dances of Vice". Time Out. 10 September 2012. Retrieved 2022-04-29.

References

[edit]
[edit]