Despair Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		4.5
Video		4.5
Audio		4.5
Extras		4.0
Overall		4.0

Despair Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov October 17, 2012

Winner of three German Film Awards, including Best Direction and Best Cinematography, Rainer Werner Fassbinder's "Despair" (1978) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of French distributors Carlotta Films. The supplemental features on the disc include a new trailer for the film and Robert Fischer's documentary film "The Cinema and its Double". In English, with optional French SDH subtitles for the main feature. Region-B "locked".

Seeing the other side

Berlin, the 1930s. Hermann Hermann (Dirk Bogarde, The Damned, The Night Porter) is a successful Russian immigrant who has made a fortune selling chocolate. He lives together with his beautiful but moronic wife, Lydia (Andrea Ferreol, La Grande Bouffe, La nuit de Varennes), who is having an affair with her spoiled and quite obnoxious cousin, Ardalion (Volker Spengler). Hermann is aware that Lydia is cheating on him but is too tired to confront her.

As the "brownshirts" begin attacking Jewish-owned businesses across the city, Hermann slips into mid-life crisis, which is accompanied by severe migraine attacks. The pain often affects the way he works and even makes love to Lydia. Business also slows down dramatically.

Around the same time Hermann meets Felix (Klaus Lowitsch, Cross of Iron, World on a Wire), an unemployed and disillusioned man, whom he believes looks exactly like him. Their short interaction inspires him to come up with a grandiose plan that will allow him to erase his past and start a brand new life, perhaps somewhere else. There is also a place for Lydia in his plan - so long as she agrees to play the role he has for her.

Based on the famous novel by Vladimir Nabokov, Despair was Rainer Werner Fassbinder’s first English-language film. It was also the first film in which Fassbinder would direct international stars.

Despair is filled with the typical for Fassbinder’s films subversive overtones. The camera follows closely Hermann’s gradual descent into madness, but just as much, if not more, attention is paid to the evolving world around him. For example, the hysteria on the streets where the "brownshirts" are seen daily is soon accepted as a normal part of life, including by the Jews. There is a feeling in the air that something terrible is about to happen soon, and that trying to prevent it is absolutely pointless because it is simply unavoidable. In this quite surreal vacuum people live from day to day, some indulging in excess and materialism, while others, like Hermann, allowing themselves to be carried away by their imagination.

As the film progresses, the images created by Hermann’s mind and the images from the world he belongs to begin to overlap. In this incredibly bizarre reality, his plan collapses with a bang and he begins to reevaluate everything, from relationships to personal successes and failures. Of course, this entire scenario is a metaphor for Germany’s obsession with a dangerous idea that is bound to collapse it soon.

Nabokov’s novel was adapted by award winning writer Tom Stoppard, who is perhaps best known for his work with Terry Gilliam on Brazil and John Madden on Shakespeare in Love. It must be said, however, that stylistically the adaptation takes many liberties, and probably rightfully so, as the novel is written in a way that makes it virtually unfilmable.

Despair was lensed by the great German cinematographer Michael Ballhaus (James L. Brooks’ Broadcast News, Martin Scorsese’s The Last Temptation of Christ). The film has a very subdued, at times distinctively dreamy look where light is often restricted and colors muted.

Fassbinder dedicated Despair to Antonin Artaud (French playwright, poet and actor, who died in a psychiatric clinic), Vincent Van Gogh (the great but mentally unstable Dutch post-impressionist painter, who shot himself with a revolver), and Unica Zurn (German author and painter, who suffered from depression and also committed suicide). In 1982, shortly after finishing Querelle, Fassbinder also tragically died from an overdose of cocaine and sleeping pills.

Note: In 1978, Despair was screened at the Cannes Film Festival, where it was nominated for the prestigious Palme d'Or Award.

Despair Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Presented in an aspect ratio of 1.67:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, Rainer Werner Fassbinder's Despair arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of French distributors Carlotta Films.

I don't see any major discrepancies between the high-definition transfer Olive Films used for the U.S. release of Despair and the one used for this Gallic release. Both appear to have been sourced from the same recent restoration by Bavaria Media/Cinepostproduction.

Generally speaking, the entire film has a somewhat subdued look. Light is often restricted and contrast levels are toned down to achieve a specific period look. Light grays, greens, blues, and browns are the prominent colors, never looking overly saturated but also never appearing flat. Detail is pleasing, but the unique use of light and shadow often affects definition (see screencapture #18). Again, these stylistic adjustments are used to give the film a certain period appearance. There are no traces of excessive degraining or sharpening. There are no serious compression issues to report in this review either. Large damage marks, cuts, warps, and stains are also nowhere to be seen. All in all, the new restoration has definitely given Despair a new life, which is why I believe that Fassbinder fans residing in French-speaking territories will be very pleased with it. (Note: This is a Region-B "locked" Blu-ray disc. Therefore, you must have a native Region-B or Region-Free PS3 or SA in order to access its content).

Despair Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

There are two standard audio tracks on this Blu-ray disc: English DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 and French DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0. For the record, Carlotta Films have provided optional French subtitles for the main feature.

The lossless English track serves the film very well. Peer Raben's moody score, in particular, benefits a great deal - the strings as well as the trumpet solos sound quite beautiful. Overall dynamic movement, however, is limited. This is not to imply that there are any technical limitations with the lossless track, rather that the film's sound design is quite modest, at least in comparison to big budget contemporary productions. The dialog is clean and stable, but some of the accents are quite thick. Fortunately, the release comes with optional French subtitles which should be very helpful for French speakers.

Despair Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Le Cinema et Son Double - The Cinema and its Double is the same outstanding documentary film by Robert Fischer which appears on the Olive Films Blu-ray release. It offers an in-depth look at life and legacy of Rainer Werner Fassbinder and the production history of Despair. The documentary features numerous interviews with screenwriter Tom Stoppard, cinematographer Michael Ballhaus, actors Andréa Ferréol (Lydia), Alexander Allerson (Mayer), Harry Baer, Isolde Barth, and others. In English, German, and French, with optional French subtitles where necessary. (70 min, 1080p).

• Bande-annonce 2012 - new trailer for Despair. In English, with optional French subtitles. (2 min, 1080p).

Despair Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

I think that Bavaria Media/Cinepostproduction's restoration of Rainer Werner Fassbinder's Despair is quite beautiful. Prior to purchasing the Olive Films release, I had never seen the film before. Needless to say, because it looks so healthy now, the viewing experience was quite special. The real surprise, however, was the inclusion of Robert Fischer's documentary film The Cinema and its Double. I thought that it was just as intriguing as the main feature, offering a wealth of information about the the legendary German director and its legacy. Carlotta Films' Blu-ray release of Despair looks and sounds very impressive. Like the Olive Films release, it also offers Fischer's documentary. French speakers in France and Canada should consider adding it up to their collections. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.