Despair 1978

John Skow, TIME Magazine: Dirk Bogarde, looking natty and nerve-worn, is exactly right as the fissured Hermann, a chocolate manufacturer whose business has turned bitter. Read more

Vincent Canby, New York Times: The Stoppard script is a joy for anyone who likes the English language. Read more

Dave Kehr, Chicago Reader: The first half is oppressive, cluttered, and funny, but as the film forsakes its artificial settings for more open spaces, it becomes pale and mechanical. Read more

Richard Brody, New Yorker: Fassbinder films life in the cosseted class as a masque of glass and mirrors, replete with alluring deceptions and suave surfaces that belie volcanic passions. Read more

David Jenkins, Time Out: Effortlessly literate [and] gaudily stylish. Read more

Variety Staff, Variety: Despite a witty, albeit theatrical, script by Tom Stoppard, prolific German director Rainer Werner Fassbinder does not quite bring off the spirited linguistic innovations, wit and penetrating insights of Vladimir Nabokov's novel. Read more