Based on the classic novel by Vladimir Nabokov with screenplay adaptation by Tom Stoppard. In early 1930s Germany, against the backdrop of the Nazis' rise to power, Hermann Hermann (Dirk Bogarde), a Russian emigrant and successful chocolate magnate, starts experiencing mental breakdowns. He soon meets Felix, an unemployed laborer, who Hermann believes to be his doppelganger. He hatches up an elaborate plot, which he believes will free him of all his worries and nightmares. Cinematography by legendary DP, Michael Ballhaus (Goodfellas). Directed by Rainer Werner Fassbinder (Berlin Alexanderplatz).

Set against the backdrop of Nazi Germany, "Despair" is an emotionally rich & stirring account of a factory owner's frightening descent into madness. This is Fassbinder at his finest. Tom Stoppard's screenplay from Vladimir Nabakov's novel.