It's a mild crowd pleaser for people who are exhausted by blockbusters.

Tells a fascinating and unsettling true story, and does so well, without pretending to have all the answers.

It really made me laugh, but for some moments I was tearing up because I could relate so much.

Just intense enough to provide a much-needed diversion, just lightweight enough to make you forget about it soon after it’s over. It’s not exactly “good,” per se, but it does what it sets out to do in terms of putting us on edge, which makes it … successful?

This was my introduction to the works of Rainer Werner Fassbinder & only one of a short selection of New German Cinema I have seen.Immediate thoughts were that the direction is nice, Fassbinder has a fascination of adding touches such as shooting from behind objects such as windows and walls and framing the scene within this context as well as lots of interplay with shadows. The black and white is used to a really good contrast and if anything the film is pleasing to look at. Scenes with the leading lady have glitter shining off her jewelery and it looks like you would expect fame in all its superficial but alluring glory.The soundtrack is great, I get off on detail in this area and radio interludes constantly playing in the background a'la Midnight Cowboy along with well timed emotional musical cues are very effective. A few songs are highlighted in key scenes such as some twangy country music and the beautiful vocal number towards the end which provides quite an impact on the senses.The thing that really lets Veronica Voss down is the story, its good but its just not very interesting. A sports reported has an affair with a fading actress, who is involved in a plot by a neurologist that hooks rich patients up with morphine to get their trust and eventually their fortune when they die. Now... it sounds workable and it is. But its rather plodding how it is played out, although the actors are fantastic and do a great job portraying their characters it all feels very superficial and it is hard to sympathize with their plight. Some might argue that this is the intention of the film maker to get across the superficial nature of actresses in general but it doesn't feel so convincing to me.In short Veronica Voss is a feast for the eyes at times, and the soundtrack is excellent but something feels a tad hollow. Most of the appeal seems to come from that it shows off the era, and well I can respect it for that.

In the 50's, in a rainy night in Germany, the sports reporter Robert Krohn (Hilmar Thate) offers his umbrella to the former successful UFA actress Veronika Voss (Rosel Zech) but he does not recognizes her. Later she calls him inviting for a drink, and he finds an unstable and decadent actress living in her past success. In a mixed sensation of love, empathy and curiosity, Robert has an affair with Veronika, and discloses a dangerous gang leaded by Dr. Marianne Katz (Annemarie Düringer) that addicts wealthy patients in morphine to get their fortune when they die."Die Sehnsucht der Veronika Voss" is a melancholic, bitter and depressive tale based on the reality of an era, and the association with "Sunset Boulevard" is immediate. The story is based on the last years of the German actress Sybille Schmitz (1909-1955), who died due to an overdose of sleeping pills. The performance of Rosel Zech is impressive, showing the glamour of a former star in the Nazi period and the depression of an addicted woman in the 50's. Hilmar Thate is also perfect in the role of a simple innocent man that faces a greedy world of pain and death. The magnificent cinematography in black and white, using perfectly light and shadows, is homage to the Golden Age of Hollywood. My vote is eight.Title (Brazil): "O Desespero de Veronika Voss" ("The Despair of Veronika Voss")

Thsi is a wonderful noir by Fassbinder that recalls the classic film actors more than it does the gritty analyses of post war German economic success that he gave us in Lola and Maria Braun. I thought about Wilder's Sunset Boulevard, Preminger's Laura and Hitchcock's Notorious... anything but a remake of a drug-addiction film.Rosel Zech as Veronika Voss is wonderful; her wistful faded elegance in the scenes with Krone is memorable. Hilmar Thate plays a reporter who's in over his head trying to write about a faded film star, as his editor reminds him; it's a performance that reminds me of Dana Andrews in Laura. The cinematography by Xaver Schwarzenberger is superb: the rainy night scenes and the glaring white of the clinic were very well rendered.

A famous German actress, Veronika Voss (Rozel Zech) in her forties tries to revive her career while struggling with alcohol and drugs in the final chapter to Fassbinder's trilogy about collapse of the West German postwar dream. The film was inspired by the tragic life of famous UFA actress, Sybille Schmitz (1909-1955). She began her career in the films by the giants such Georg Wilhelm Pabst and Carl Theodor Dreyer and soon became one of Germany's beloved actress. Everything changed during the WWII and especially after its end.Fassbinder's film which was shot in black and white visually is very impressive. "Light and shadows are two cinema's best secrets" says Veronika in the movie and light and shadows make the film a joy to behold. I like it but I think it is the weakest part of the trilogy perhaps because "Lola" and "Maria Braun" are so strong. I found the documentary about Sybille Schmitz, "Dances with Death" which is included on Criterion DVD much more compelling.Veronika - 7/10 Dances with Death 8.5/10