Diamonds of the Night

Two teenage boys flee from a moving train, shedding long black coats with the letters KL painted on the back as shouts and gunfire punctuate their flight. The escape is frantic and urgent, with the wilderness ahead offering protection but little certainty. The moment sets the tone for a sparse, imagery-driven journey.

The boys push through forests, swamps, and rocky terrain, constantly looking back for pursuers. The pursuit is intercut with memories and dreams, blending danger in the present with inner visions. The landscape becomes as much a mental maze as a physical one.

In a memory punctuating the escape, the younger boy recalls trading his shoes with the older boy for a portion of food. The shoes later prove too small and begin to hobble the older boy, foreshadowing the fragility of their situation. The memory sharpens the stakes of their hunger and alliance.

The younger boy imagines the two of them walking down a deserted city street in shiny new shoes, with the older boy twirling a fancy cane. The vision contrasts with their worn reality and hints at a longing for safety and dignity. It serves as a brief respite from the harsh chase.

In an out-of-sequence dream, the younger boy travels home to Prague by train and tram, moving through familiar streets while two Nazi soldiers pass without incident. He meets a girl and repeatedly rings a doorbell, all while wearing the KL coat that marks him as an escapee. The dream blends desire for normalcy with perpetual danger.

The boys come to a farm and observe the farmer's wife bringing lunch to the field. The younger boy follows her inside to ask for food, wrestling with thoughts of murder and sex as he stands at the threshold of violence and hunger. He ultimately takes only a few slices of bread and leaves.

Throughout the farm episode, the film repeatedly juxtaposes dark thoughts with restraint, showing the boy's struggle to act on impulses under extreme hunger and fear. The tension underscores the fragile moral compass of two youths in a lawless chase. Silence often speaks louder than any dialogue.

An attempt to jump onto a passing truck fails because the older boy injures his foot, making escape more difficult. The pair is eventually seized by a shooting party of elderly German-speaking men. The capture shifts the mood from frantic escape to ominous confinement.

The boys are detained in a corner of a beer hall while the other men drink, eat, sing, and dance around them. The claustrophobic atmosphere contrasts with the outside danger and intensifies the sense of looming judgment. They remain quiet observers of a world that could decide their fate at any moment.

The local mayor explains that a passing patrol will take the boys away that evening and that a military court will determine their fate. The waiting period heightens the tension as they confront the possibility of execution or reprieve. The uncertainty dominates the mood inside the hall.

The younger boy, recalling the train escape, convinces the older boy—though with apathetic resolve—to attack the patrol in a final bid for freedom. They steel themselves to seize a chance, even if the outcome remains uncertain. The moment echoes the earlier desperation of their flight.

Two gunshots are heard, and the boys are seen lying motionless outside in the mud. The scene blurs the line between reality and memory as the film toggles between what happened and what might have happened. Ambiguity reigns regarding whether they were executed or spared.

Back in the beer hall, the mayor tells them to leave, and the leader of the shooting party mouthes 'Ready, aim, fire' only to have the old men clap, laugh, and begin singing. The expected outcome is undercut, leaving the audience unsure of the boys' fate. The mood shifts from menace to unsettling ambiguity.

The younger boy imagines Prague again, and the pair walk through the woods in isolation. The sequence closes with an unresolved sense of either spared lives or impending execution, inviting multiple interpretations. The final moment leaves the fate deliberately murky.