Ecstasy

Emil carries his bride Eva over the threshold of their home, signaling the beginning of their marriage. He struggles to open the front door, trying key after key, a sign of the obstacles to come. In the moment, his finger is pinched in Eva's pearl clasp as he tries to remove them. Eva remains disappointed when Emil does not come to bed that night.

Emil withdraws, retreating behind his newspaper and avoiding interaction with Eva. Eva grows weary of a loveless marriage and refuses to live merely as his wife in name. The quiet tension between them stretches across days as Emil ignores her.

Eva leaves the marriage and returns to her father's estate, seeking a divorce. She is granted the divorce, gaining independence and the option to pursue a new life. This marks a decisive break from Emil and a new path for Eva.

Eva rides through the countryside near her father's estate and goes for a nude swim, leaving her clothes on her horse. Adam, a young engineer, happens to look up and see her, then helps catch the runaway horse. This chance encounter plants the seed of a dangerous attraction.

Adam hands Eva her clothes after she is exposed, and she injures her ankle while attempting to depart. He hesitates at first but offers help and she eventually accepts it. The moment marks the beginning of their growing connection.

That night Eva returns to Adam's isolated residence and they embrace, spending the night together. In the heat of passion, Eva's pearl necklace breaks and falls to the floor, symbolizing the erosion of propriety. They begin a new, illicit chapter in their lives.

The following morning, Eva forgets to take the pearl necklace with her as they part. They promise to meet again in town at the local hotel the next evening, deepening their secret bond. The ordinary rhythms of life resume while their affair remains hidden.

Eva returns home the next morning to find Emil waiting, seeking reconciliation. She refuses, ending any chance of salvaging the marriage. Brokenhearted, Emil drives away and leaves her to her new life.

By chance, Emil encounters Adam on the road and asks for a ride into town. They stop at Adam's residence to pack, and Adam discovers Eva's pearls on the floor. Emil recognizes the necklace as Eva's and becomes consumed with jealousy, even contemplating drastic action to separate them.

That night Emil sits alone in a hotel room while Adam waits in the hotel restaurant for Eva. The lovers remain unaware of Emil's intentions until a gunshot shatters the hotel, and Emil has killed himself. The guests rush to the door as the drama unfolds around them.

Eva is deeply saddened by Emil's suicide but keeps quiet about her relationship with him to Adam. The revelation, or lack thereof, shapes how she handles her romance with Adam and protects what they share from exposure.

The couple are to take a train to Berlin to begin a new life together. At the train station, Adam falls asleep, and Eva quietly slips away to board a different train. He wakes to find her gone and daydreams about a future they might never realize.

Back at work in construction, Adam carries on with his routine yet remains consumed by thoughts of Eva. He imagines her holding their baby, clinging to a hopeful vision of a life together that fate may not permit. The story closes on this longing and unresolved possibility.