Despair (1978) Plot Summary Explained

Hermann wants to escape his unbearable life in Berlin. His chocolate business is failing due to the Great Depression, anti-Jewish hostility is increasing as Nazism rises, and he despises his marriage to the unintelligent Lydia. He also feels disconnected from his own identity, experiencing out-of-body episodes. Faking his death through his double Felix represents his complete escape from a life he finds repulsive.

Foreshadowing: Earlier scenes establish Hermann's detachment from his own life through his dissociative episodes, showing he already views himself as someone who could vanish.

• escape
• double
• fake death
• identity
• despair

Hermann meets a man he believes is a psychiatrist but is actually an insurance salesman who persuades him to buy a policy. He later has his cousin Ardalion write a fake blackmail letter demanding money to leave for Switzerland. He shows this letter to the insurance salesman as proof he's being blackmailed, which justifies a large payout upon his 'death' that Lydia will collect.

Foreshadowing: The insurance meeting early in the film plants the financial mechanism that makes his entire scheme possible.

• insurance
• blackmail
• policy
• payout
• scheme

Hermann needs a corpse that will be mistaken for his own body to collect insurance money and complete the deception. By killing Felix, dressing him in Hermann's clothes, and altering his appearance to look more like Hermann, he creates a body that will be identified as Hermann Hermann. This allows Hermann to assume Felix's identity and passport to escape to Switzerland while everyone believes he is dead.

Foreshadowing: The film Hermann watches about a doppelganger obsesses him with the idea of a physical double who could take his place.

• murder
• felix
• double
• impersonation
• corpse

Ardalion discovers Hermann in the countryside and realizes he is the murderer. Though Ardalion was part of Hermann's scheme to write the fake blackmail letter, he did not intend to aid in actual murder. When he sees Hermann alive and understands the truth, he alerts the authorities, leading to the police pursuit.

Foreshadowing: Ardalion's involvement in the blackmail scheme places him in a position to recognize when something has gone terribly wrong.

• ardalion
• police
• betrayal
• murder
• discovery

As armed police close in during the final chase, Hermann claims he is an actor making a film and demands they stand aside. This desperate improvisation is an attempt to maintain his Felix identity. However, the ruse collapses under scrutiny, and the police do not believe him. The film ends with police closing in and Hermann's capture implied, not shown.

Foreshadowing: The doppelganger film Hermann obsesses over earlier reflects his belief that identity can be performed like acting.

• film
• police
• capture
• ending
• performance

Hermann tells Lydia he has a troubled twin brother who will commit suicide, and that he plans to switch clothes with the brother so the corpse appears to be Hermann. He instructs Lydia to collect the insurance money after his 'death' and join him in Switzerland. She believes the ruse and agrees to participate, not realizing Felix has been murdered.

Foreshadowing: The twin brother lie requires Lydia's cooperation to make the fake death convincing to insurance investigators.

• lydia
• insurance
• switzerland
• twins
• deception

After watching a film about a double, Hermann becomes fixated on the idea that someone could replace him. He then seeks out look-alikes and finds Felix, convincing himself Felix is his physical double. This obsession drives his entire scheme to swap identities and escape his life.

Foreshadowing: The film serves as the psychological catalyst that transforms Hermann's despair into a concrete plan.

• doppelganger
• film
• double
• obsession
• felix

Hermann experiences dissociative episodes where he floats above himself, watching his own body make love to Lydia. These moments show his deep detachment from his own life and identity, foreshadowing his willingness to completely abandon his existence and take on another person's identity.

Foreshadowing: The dissociative experiences establish Hermann's psychological instability and his view of himself as already half-gone.

• dissociation
• identity
• mind
• psychosis
• escape

Hermann spots Felix, an unemployed drifter, and becomes convinced Felix is his physical double despite Felix himself being bemused by the resemblance. Hermann offers Felix money to act as his double, and Felix agrees out of curiosity and financial desperation. Hermann's psychological need for escape makes him see a double where perhaps only a vague similarity exists.

Foreshadowing: Felix's initial bemusement contrasts with Hermann's intense conviction, showing Hermann's distorted perception.

• felix
• double
• resemblance
• choice
• drifter

Hermann's plan fails because he cannot successfully become Felix. When he arrives in Switzerland, newspapers report that Berlin police are seeking the murderer, creating immediate suspicion. His movement from village to village draws attention, and Ardalion's recognition exposes him. His desperate claim of being an actor making a film cannot stop the police from closing in.

Foreshadowing: The insurance scheme's paper trail and the physical evidence at the murder scene make perfect escape impossible.

• failure
• capture
• police
• escape
• switzerland