Despair (film)

Despair
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Rainer Werner Fassbinder
Written by	Tom Stoppard (screenplay) Vladimir Nabokov (novel)
Starring	Dirk Bogarde Andréa Ferréol Klaus Löwitsch Volker Spengler
Music by	Peer Raben
Cinematography	Michael Ballhaus
Edited by	Reginald Beck Juliane Lorenz Franz Walsch
Distributed by	Filmverlag der Autoren (West Germany) New Line Cinema (USA)
Release date	1978 (West Germany) 1979 (USA)
Running time	120
Country	West Germany
Language	English

Despair is a 1978 film directed by Rainer Werner Fassbinder and starring Dirk Bogarde, based on the novel of the same name by Vladimir Nabokov. It was entered into the 1978 Cannes Film Festival.

Similarly to the novel, the tone of the film is ironic. The plot is mostly similar to the novel, although one of the key characters is significantly altered in the adaptation.

Hermann Hermann is a successful entrepreneur in the 1930s Germany. As the Nazis gradually rise to power, Hermann, who is a Russian émigré, becomes increasingly frightened and mentally unstable. His attempts at leaving the country are accompanied by symptoms of madness, the most vivid being his belief that he found his exact double, although the person in question differs from him in every respect. He creates an elaborate plan that would allow him to flee to Switzerland, but it soon becomes unclear whether his voyage leads him to a neutral country or merely allows him to take refuge in his madness.

Despair was released to region 1 DVD and Blu-Ray in 2011.