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Widely considered to be Fassbinder's masterpiece, this adaptation of Nabokov's novel charts the descent into madness of wealthy chocolate factory owner Hermann Herman (Dirk Bogarde). In 1930s Berlin, Russian-born émigré Herman lives a luxurious but vapid life with his wife, Lydia (Andrea Ferreol), who is having an affair with Herman's painter brother, Ardalion (Volker Spengler). Racked with existential doubt and crippled by cynicism, Herman hatches an elaborate plot involving homeless man Felix Weber (Klaus Löwitsch) in an attempt to free himself of his mental tortures - but only ends up driving himself to the brink of full-blown insanity.

Please note this is a region B Blu-ray and will require a region B or region free Blu-ray player in order to play.  Having made as many films as he had years, at 31, Rainer Werner Fassbinder essayed a slightly different approach for his 32nd film, Despair. Here, he uses a witty screenplay written by the well-known playwright Tom Stoppard, based on a novel by Vladimir Nabokov. Furthermore, the entire film, set in 1930s Germany, is in English. In the story, a Russian owner of a German chocolate-factory, whose business and marriage are both on the rocks, fantasizes about leaving his current life, and living another one. Indeed, he has delusions that he is somehow outside himself, watching himself live his life. So strong is his desire to alter his life that when he encounters a tramp while on a brief business trip, he imagines that the man looks exactly like him, decides to exchange identities with the tramp, and murders him. Actors Dirk Bogarde, Andréa Ferréol, Klaus Löwitsch, Volker Spengler, Peter Kern, Alexander Allerson, Gottfried John, Hark Bohm, Bernhard Wicki & Armin Meier Director Rainer Werner Fassbinder Certificate 12 years and over Year 1978 Screen Widescreen 1.78:1 Languages German - Dolby Digital Stereo (2.0) Additional Languages English Duration 1 hour and 57 minutes (approx)