Plot

Anna, an aging Czech movie star, comes to NYC struggling to establish her career. When she meets a beautiful, young peasant girl, she teaches her the ins and outs of acting, only to have the young girl become a screen star instead.

Anna is a middle-aged actress looking for work in New York City, with the help of her sometime lover, Daniel. She used to be a Czech film star married to the director Tonda, who is now successfully making commercials in New York. After the 1968 invasion of Czechoslovakia, Anna was imprisoned and eventually exiled. Anna takes in the young girl Krystyna, who has just arrived from Czechoslovakia, and speaks no English. Anna and Daniel help Krystyna learn English and start a promising acting career. However, the only job Anna can find is as an understudy.—Will Gilbert

An aging Polish actress Anna (Sally Kirkland) wakes up to a ringing telephone from her agent commanding her to get to an audition for a new play in downtown Manhattan. After asked to perform ridiculous stunts onstage for an inept director she bumps into Krystyna (Paulina Porizkova) a lovely young Polish actress who has traveled to the United States to meet and work for her idol, the old actress. Anna takes her into her apartment, feeds her, and Krystyna with her beauty immediately becomes an attraction to some of the best people to know like the legendary Baskin (Larry Pine) who takes the young model off to his retreat in the Hamptons and takes her around to parties in New York. Anna shares with Krystyna the main reason that she came to America and realizes that she is a force of inspiration to the younger woman. As Krystynas career ignites Anna understands that her own career has waned and the effect the two women have on each other is life-changing.