Brooklyn, New York, 1918. Margarita Carmen Cansino is born into a family of dancers. Her father Eduardo is a Spanish virtuoso, her mother Volga a former Ziegfeld Girl. At four years old she is already on stage. At twelve she dances professionally in Tijuana nightclubs, partnered with her father. A stolen childhood that would mark her life forever.

“Rita Against Rita”—the title perfectly captures the drama of a woman in perpetual struggle with her own image. Under her father’s expert guidance, Rita learned the discipline to excel in her profession, and developed the willpower necessary to overcome her natural shyness and reserve.

Hollywood transforms her: the black hair dyed red, the hairline raised through electrolysis, the Spanish surname Americanized. Rita Hayworth is born, the “Love Goddess” of the 1940s. The way she moved, and the intense, impenetrable expression on her face, gave rise to an explosive combination: an unpredictable woman of great allure, suspended between good and evil, of unfathomable depth.

“Gilda” (1946) consecrates her an immortal icon. The glove scene—”Put the Blame on Mame”—enters cinema history. Glenn Ford, her partner in the film, recounts in this documentary that magical partnership. But Rita always said: “Men go to bed with Gilda and wake up with me.”

Five tormented marriages: the second to Orson Welles, who directed her in “The Lady from Shanghai” (1947), cutting her famous red hair; the third to Prince Aly Khan, who made her a princess but not happy. She never subordinated her personal choices to celebrity or to the studios’ wishes, although her screen image always seemed to filter into her private life.

Donatella Baglivo gathers precious testimonies: Claudia Cardinale, Glenn Ford, Douglas Fairbanks Jr., Italian director Duccio Tessari, film historian John Kobal, photographer Sam Shaw, director Delbert Mann. And Dr. Zaven Khachaturian, who speaks about the Alzheimer’s disease that struck Rita in her final years.

Rita Hayworth left us in 1987, at 68 years old, after a long battle against Alzheimer’s—a disease little known at the time, of which she unwittingly became a symbol and spokesperson.

The Love Goddess rests in peace. But Gilda lives forever.