Set in the gilt extravagance of the Kremlin’s most exclusive inner sanctums, as Communism sinks into a mire of corruption and bankruptcy and Perestroika foments among the poverty-stricken masses, the impassioned demimonde beauty, Irina, like a highly prized courtesan, weaves her spell of charisma and scandalous seduction in the greatest tradition of Russian all-time heroines since Anna Karenina.