Insignificance

A crowd gathers on a crowded New York City street as a film crew shoots a sequence. The Actress stands on a grate while wind from a huge fan simulates a subway rushing by beneath her. The Ballplayer, her husband, watches with obvious discomfort as she is ogled by onlookers.

The Ballplayer watches the scene with visible unease, feeling the strain of fame and the gaze of strangers. He stands apart from the crowd, clearly affected by the public spectacle. The moment foreshadows trouble in their marriage.

After the shoot, The Actress disappears in a taxi rather than joining her husband. She stops at a store and buys a variety of toys, flashlights, and balloons, moving further from the public eye. The sequence hints at a personal, away-from-camera direction in her life.

The Professor is surrounded by pages of mathematical calculations in his hotel room. He is interrupted by The Senator, who pressures him about appearing before a committee. The Professor refuses, stating that he will never appear.

The Senator tries to coax and threaten the Professor into answering the famous inquiry about loyalty. The Professor remains firmly opposed to testifying. The Senator leaves, vowing to return at 8 a.m. the following morning to compel his appearance.

The Actress appears at the door of the Professor's hotel room and is invited in. They discuss fame, being chased, and the stars, and she performs a lively demonstration of the theory of relativity using toys and balloons. She declares she would like to sleep with him, and they decide to go to bed.

The Ballplayer tracks The Actress to the hotel and interrupts their plans. The Professor leaves to find another room, and in the hallway he meets a Cherokee elevator man, their brief exchange underscoring the odd, intimate world they inhabit.

The Actress and The Ballplayer discuss their troubled marriage. She tells him she believes she is pregnant, but he has fallen asleep, leaving the tension unresolved. The moment deepens the sense of personal strain beneath public performances.

The Senator returns the following morning to find The Actress naked and alone in The Professor's bed. He mistakes her for a call girl and threatens to use her to embarrass The Professor, then punches her in the abdomen.

The Professor arrives as The Senator is gathering hundreds of pages of his work to take away. The Professor grabs the papers and throws them out of the windows as The Actress writhes in pain on the bed. The Senator leaves, defeated in his purpose.

The Ballplayer returns and talks about his fame in the baseball world, then confides in the Professor about their marital problems. The Actress, in the bathroom, is possibly miscarrying as she reveals that their marriage is over. He leaves, leaving the future unresolved.

The Actress grows impatient with the Professor, who sits with a stopped watch and an alarm clock as 8:15 approaches. He confesses his guilt about the event, and she reassures him. The moment tightens the emotional tension between them.

Right at 8:15 a.m., as she is leaving, the Professor has a vision of the room, Hiroshima, and the world in ashes. The Actress's skirt swirls in flames as she seems to burn in the vision, but the sequence reverses and the world is restored to order. She waves goodbye and departs, leaving the Professor smiling amid the calm.