Directed by Ulrike Ottinger • 1984 • West Germany
Starring Veruschka von Lehndorff, Delphine Seyrig, Tabea Blumenschein

The final installment in Ulrike Ottinger’s Berlin Trilogy (following TICKET OF NO RETURN and FREAK ORLANDO) casts Delphine Seyrig as the nefarious Fritz Lang supervillain Dr. Mabuse, here the head of a powerful media empire that seeks to create headlines by manufacturing (and then publicly destroying) its own celebrity: the wealthy, handsome playboy Dorian Gray (played by supermodel Veruschka in drag). Ottinger’s outré aesthetic is on eye-popping display in this satiric commentary on media manipulation and celebrity culture.