The Cinema and its Double: Rainer Werner Fassbinder's 'Despair' Revisited
Seen it?2011 | 70 min | Documentary
Monday Morning Maybeearly ratingWhy it’s a Monday Morning Maybe
With a box office flop and almost no lasting buzz, this one could be a tough watch. Keep your phone handy.
Based on critics, audiences, awards, box office and buzz. Details below.Is it for you?
- Who'll love it
- Right up the alley of the curious. Expect to bring it up in conversation afterwards.
- The mood
- Eye-opening.
- The pace
- Moves through the story clearly, at 1 hr 10 min. An easy one to fit in on a school night.
- What might put you off
- Skip it if you want made-up drama tonight.
This absolutely top-notch documentary by Robert Fischer is a fascinating look back at not just the film in question, but Fassbinder's meteoric career which ended all too soon with his untimely death. Archival footage of Fassbinder is utilized (including several fascinating snippets culled from interviews he did at the disastrous Cannes premiere of Despair), as well as many others involved in the film and its release. Even if you're not a particular fan of Despair, or even in fact of Fassbinder, this is stellar documentary film making and is an intriguing look at one of the most enigmatic masters of the New German Cinema.
How it earned its rating
- CriticsNot counted
Not enough reviews on record yet
- AudiencesNot counted
Not measured yet: not enough ratings
- AwardsNot counted
Awards data unavailable, so this isn't counted
- Reach & staying powerWeak
Streaming release that reached a small audience so far
- Buzz & cultural impactWeak
Not enough engagement data yet
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Cast & crew
Directed by Robert Fischer
- Andréa FerréolSelf
- Michael BallhausSelf
- Tom StoppardSelf
- Juliane LorenzSelf
- Dieter MenzSelf
- Alexander AllersonSelf
- Harry BaerSelf
- Isolde BarthSelf
- John ColdstreamSelf
- Brock Van Den BogaerdeSelf