Despair (1978)

Rainer Werner Fassbinder’s first film in English was brilliantly adapted by Tom Stoppard from Vladimir Nabokov’s novel set in 1930s Berlin.
With his business about to fail, Hermann Hermann (Dirk Bogarde), an exiled Russian chocolate manufacturer, encounters his double and plans the perfect crime. Hypnotically watchable, Bogarde does exquisite justice to the sparkling dialogue, endowing Hermann with complex interior life.
1978 Federal Republic of Germany, France
Directed by
Rainer Werner Fassbinder
Produced by
Peter Märthesheimer
Written by
Tom Stoppard
Featuring
Dirk Bogarde, Andréa Ferréol, Klaus Löwitsch
Running time
119 minutes