Despair
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.

Main Cast
Dirk Bogarde
Sir Dirk Bogarde (born Derek Niven van den Bogaerde; 28 March 1921 – 8 May 1999) was an English actor, novelist, and screenwriter. Initially a matinée idol in films such as Doctor in the House (1954) for the Rank Organisation, he later acted in art-house films. In a second career, he wrote seven best-selling volumes of memoirs, six novels, and a volume of collected journalism, mainly from articles in The Daily Telegraph. Bogarde came to prominence in films including The Blue Lamp in the early 1950s, before starring in the successful Doctor film series (1954–1963). He twice won the BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role, for The Servant (1963) and Darling (1965). His other notable film roles included Victim (1961), Accident (1967), The Damned (1969), Death in Venice (1971), The Night Porter (1974), A Bridge Too Far (1977), and Despair (1978). He was appointed a Commander of the Order of Arts and Letters in 1990 and a Knight Bachelor in 1992. Description above from the Wikipedia article Dirk Bogarde, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.
Known For
Andréa Ferréol
Andréa Ferréol is a French stage, film and television actress.
Known For
Klaus Löwitsch
Klaus Löwitsch (8 April 1936 – 3 December 2002) was a German actor, best known in Germany for his starring role in the television detective series Peter Strohm. He appeared in several films directed by Rainer Werner Fassbinder, beginning with Pioneers in Ingolstadt (1971) and notably including World on a Wire (1973) and The Marriage of Maria Braun (1979). His English language films include Cross of Iron (1977), The Odessa File (1974), Firefox (1982) and Fassbinder's Despair (1978). He was born in Berlin. He died in Munich from pancreatic cancer. From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Known For
Volker Spengler
Known For
Bernhard Wicki
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Bernhard Wicki (28 October 1919 in St. Pölten, Austria - 5 January 2000 in Munich) was an Austrian actor and film director. Wicki studied in the city of Breslau such topics as Art History, History und German Literature. In 1938, he transferred to the Schauspielschule des Staatlichen Schauspielhauses (drama school) in Berlin. In 1939, because of his membership in the Bündischen Jugend he was imprisoned for many months in the Sachsenhausen concentration camp. After his release he moved to Vienna, and then in 1944 to Switzerland. After the end of World War II, he starred in many films, like Die letzte Brücke (1953) and Es geschah am 20. Juli (1955). He was also a photographer. His first attempt at directing came three years later with the documentary Warum sind sie gegen uns? (1958). He became internationally famous with his anti-war film of 1959 called Die Brücke. In 1961, he won the Silver Bear for Best Director at the 11th Berlin International Film Festival for his film The Miracle of Father Malachia. After his death in 2001, a fund was started and named after him in Munich, the Bernhard Wicki Memorial Fund. Since 2002, it has awarded a film prize, The Bridge, considered a peace prize. A further prize was endowed in 2006 with 15,000 euros, a prize given in the city of Emden since 2000. He was a patron of the International Film Festival in Emden-Norderney which first started in 1990. He first married Agnes Fink, a fellow acting colleague, and later married Elisabeth Endriss, also a colleague. In the documentary Verstörung - und eine Art von Poesie (June, 2007), Elisabeth Wicki-Endriss portrayed the life and work for Wicki. He is buried at the Nymphenburger cemetery in Munich (grave number 4-1-23). Description above from the Wikipedia article Bernhard Wicki, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia
Known For
Armin Meier
Known For
Peter Kern
Iconoclastic Austrian indie director and former New German Cinema actor Peter Kern isn't just the subject of Veronika Franz and Severin Fiala's "Kern," but also the low-fi film's strongest creative force. He appeared in more than 70 feature films and directed a further 25. At his peak, Kern worked with the best directors of his era, including Rainer Werner Fassbinder (Fox and His Friends, The Stationmaster's Wife), Hans-Jurgen Syberberg (Hitler: A Film From Germany) and Wim Wenders (Wrong Move). “When I yell at you, please do not be immediately hurt. If I insult you, take it as proof of love. Remember, I'm Austrian, insane, hysterical, hypocritical and undemocratic.”
Known For
Hark Bohm
Hark Bohm (born 18 May 1939) is a German actor, screenwriter, film director, playwright and former professor for cinema studies. He was born in Hamburg-Othmarschen and grew up on the island Amrum. His younger brother was the actor Marquard Bohm, who starred in some of his early films. He is most notable for his long-time collaboration with Rainer Werner Fassbinder. His first featurefilm as a director was the German western Tschetan, der Indianerjunge shot in 1972 and starring his brother Marquard as well as his adopted son Dschingis Bowakow as Tschetan. In 1978, he directed the film Moritz, Dear Moritz, which was entered into the 28th Berlin International Film Festival. Ten years later, his film Yasemin was entered into the 38th Berlin International Film Festival. In 1990, his film Herzlich willkommen was entered into the 40th Berlin International Film Festival. In 1997, he was a member of the jury at the 47th Berlin International Film Festival. Description above from the Wikipedia article Hark Bohm, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.
Known For
Gottfried John
Gottfried John (German: [ˈjoːn];[1] 29 August 1942 – 1 September 2014) was a German stage, screen, and voice actor. A long-time collaborator of Rainer Werner Fassbinder, John appeared in many of the filmmaker's projects between 1975 and his death in 1982, including Mother Küsters Goes to Heaven, Despair, The Marriage of Maria Braun , and Berlin Alexanderplatz. His distinctive, gaunt appearance saw him he frequently cast as villains, and he is best known to audiences for his role as the corrupt General Arkady Orumov in the 1995 James Bond film GoldenEye, and for his comedic turn as Julius Caesar in Asterix & Obelix Take On Caesar, the latter for which he won the Bavarian Film Award for Best Supporting Actor.
Known For
Y Sa Lo
Y Sa Lo was born in 1945 in Millstatt am See, Austria. She is an actress and director, known for Satan's Brew (1976), Ich dachte, ich wär tot (1973) and C'est la vie, Rose (1977).
Known For
Lilo Pempeit
Known For
Ingrid Caven
Ingrid Caven was born on August 3, 1938 in Saarbrücken, Germany as Ingrid Schmidt. She is best known for her roles in several films directed by her husband, Rainer Werner Fassbinder, including Love Is Colder Than Death (1969), Why Does Herr R. Run Amok? (1970), and The American Soldier (1970). She continued to appear in Fassbinder's films after their 1972 divorce until his death in 1982.
Known For
Voli Geiler
Known For
Isolde Barth
Known For
Harry Baer
Harry Baer (born Harry Zöttl on 27 September 1947) is a German actor, producer and author, best known for his work with director Rainer Werner Fassbinder.
Known For
Hans Zander
Known For
Movie Details
Production Info
- Director:
- Rainer Werner Fassbinder
- Production:
- Bavaria Studios
Key Crew
- Screenplay:
- Tom Stoppard
- Director of Photography:
- Michael Ballhaus
- Editor:
- Juliane Lorenz
- Original Music Composer:
- Peer Raben
- Production Executive:
- Lutz Hengst
Locations and Languages
- Country:
- US
- Filming:
- DE
- Languages:
- en