Despair (1978)

Director:

Rainer Werner Fassbinder

Writers:

Vladimir Nabokov (novel)
Tom Stoppard (writer)

Release Date:

20 September 1978 (France)

Genre:

Drama

Plot:

Germany in the early 1930s. Against the backdrop of the Nazis' rise, Hermann Hermann, a Russian émigré and chocolate magnate...

Plot Keywords:

Independent Film | Based On Novel

Awards:

3 wins & 1 nomination

Cast

Dirk Bogarde	...	Hermann Hermann
Andréa Ferréol	...	Lydia Hermann
Klaus Löwitsch	...	Felix Weber
Volker Spengler	...	Ardalion
Peter Kern	...	Müller
Alexander Allerson	...	Mayer
Gottfried John	...	Perebrodov
Hark Bohm	...	Doctor
Bernhard Wicki	...	Orlovius
Adrian Hoven	...	Inspector Schelling
Roger Fritz	...	Inspector Braun
Y Sa Lo	...	Elsie
Armin Meier	...	1st and 2nd Twin and Foreman
Ingrid Caven	...	Hotel receptionist
Voli Geiler	...	Madam
Hans Zander	...	Müller's brother
Isolde Barth	...	Woman
Harry Baer	...	Porter
Gitty Djamal	...	Woman in pension
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Lilo Pempeit	...	Müller - secretary (as Lieselotte Eder)

Directed by
Rainer Werner Fassbinder

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Vladimir Nabokov		novel "Otchayaniye"
Tom Stoppard		writer

Produced by
Lutz Hengst	....	executive producer
Peter Märthesheimer	....	producer
Edward R. Pressman	....	executive producer

Original Music by
Peer Raben

Cinematography by
Michael Ballhaus

Film Editing by
Rainer Werner Fassbinder		(as Franz Walsch)
Juliane Lorenz

Production Design by
Rolf Zehetbauer

Set Decoration by
Jochen Schumacher
Herbert Strabel

Costume Design by
Dagmar Schauberger

Makeup Department
Peter Knöpfle	....	makeup artist
Anni Nöbauer	....	makeup artist

Production Management
Wulf Gasthaus	....	unit manager
Dieter Minx	....	production manager
Lutz Winter	....	unit manager
Don French	....	unit manager (uncredited)

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Harry Baer	....	assistant director
Stefan Zürcher	....	assistant director

Art Department
Klaus Meyenberg	....	props
Ulrich Wendt	....	props (as Uli Wendt)

Sound Department
Milan Bor	....	sound mixer
John Stevenson	....	assistant sound
Jim Willis	....	sound

Camera and Electrical Department
Michael J. Jacobs	....	special still photographer
Otto Kirchhoff	....	camera operator
Horst Knechtel	....	assistant camera
Karl-Heinz Vogelmann	....	still photographer (as Karlheinz Vogelmann)

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Karin Geuer	....	wardrobe
Georg Kuhn	....	wardrobe

Editorial Department
Christine Fritz	....	assistant editor

Other crew
Patricia Johnson	....	unit publicist
Osman Ragheb	....	dialogue coach
Elke Vogt	....	script supervisor

Thanks
Antonin Artaud	....	dedicatee
Vincent van Gogh	....	dedicatee
Unica Zürn	....	dedicatee

Production Companies

• Bavaria Atelier
• Filmverlag der Autoren
• NF Geria Filmgesellshaft GmbH
• Société Française de Production (SFP)

Distributors

• Filmverlag der Autoren (1978) (West Germany) (theatrical)
• New Line Cinema (1979) (USA) (dubbed)

Also Known As:

Despair (France)
Despair - Eine Reise ins Licht

Runtime:

119 min

Country:

France | West Germany

Language:

English

Colour:

Colour (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Iceland:L | West Germany:12 (f) | Argentina:16 | Finland:K-16 | Singapore:NC-16 | UK:15

Filming Locations:

Braunschweig, Lower Saxony, Germany

Company:

Bavaria Atelier

Trivia:

Trevor Howard was asked to play a major role.

Worst Fassbinder I've ever seen.

This is one classic I was in no mood for at the time of watching it. In the right mood, I suppose even the most boring, confusing and pretentious films can appear lively and spirited.

Hermann is a Russian living in Germany with his completely idiotic Russian wife whose only talent is letting him bang her. Whereas even this right isnt exclusive since she is also carrying on with her red-headed bohemian slob of a cousin. Here is the weird part -Hermann keeps seeing himself everywhere, in particular watching he and his wife having sex. He mistakes this for out of body experiences, or split personality and does nothing to help himself out of it, instead entertaining and even encouraging it. Soon he begins to see his own face in other people. He befreinds a tramp who he believes is his look-alike and convinces him to be his body double to create an alibi while he is committing a crime. He dresses him up in his clothes, puts his papers in his pocket and gives him a shave -then he shoots and kills him. Hermann runs away with the understanding he has staged his own death. Obvious to everyone else is that it wasnt him at all, as his passport photo and the dead mans face don't even remotely resemble each other.

To be perfectly honest I tuned out of the dialogue after this point and only occasionally glanced at the screen. Despair was not improving, resulting in a complete waste of time. From what I saw it only gets weirder but perhaps with concentration it might begin to fall together. I like bizarre films, and even pretentious ones sometimes. Despair was just too damn over-dramatised or something. I just felt like the guy was digging his own grave and then constantly bitching about it like it was someone elses fault.

Yes, the acting was good, but sorry, the characters sucked.