Fassbinder's Coffee House is located more within a psychological landscape than a physical one. We are no longer in Venice, it is no longer carnival. The characters are permitted fewer illusions, and the play is no comedy. The intrigues and devices that are of such interest to Goldoni remain in Fassbinder's version seen through a sharp, intelligent melancholy. Everyone is obliged to pay for their desires. Everyone is obliged to sell a little bit of themselves. And nobody can really complain.