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Poster for Despair

Despair

A hysterical comedy

1978 · 1h 57m · N/A Drama, Thriller
Directed by Rainer Werner Fassbinder

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Overview

Berlin, 1930, during the rise of Nazism. Hermann Hermann, a Russian emigrant and chocolate manufacturer, married to the capricious Lydia, loses his temper more and more every day when dealing with his workers and other businessmen; until he meets Felix, a vagrant, who seems to be physically identical to him; a disconcerting fact that leads Hermann Hermann to plot a particular way out of a fake world he actually hates.

Director and cast

Critics on Rotten Tomatoes

Top critics, in their words

All reviews
68%
Tomatometer
Fresh

Fassbinder films life in the cosseted class as a masque of glass and mirrors, replete with alluring deceptions and suave surfaces that belie volcanic passions.

Richard Brody, New Yorker
Fresh

The Stoppard script is a joy for anyone who likes the English language.

Vincent Canby, New York Times
Rotten

Bold, garish and obsessive, but more than a little irritating.

Time Out

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