With a Little Patience

A slender white woman wearing a white blouse and gray skirt emerges from the forest and heads toward a single-floor building. The setting feels tense as she nears an entrance. The moment hints at a mission or obligation that will unfold inside.

At the door threshold an unidentified person hands her a piece of jewelry. She pockets it in her breast pocket, possibly signaling a secret exchange or hidden motive. The exchange marks a key symbol that will reappear later.

Inside she hands over a card to a clerk and her arrival is recorded with a stamp and signature. The procedure establishes the building as an administrative hub used for controlled access. The moment underlines the surveillance and bureaucratic layer surrounding her mission.

She moves through the makeshift office to a second desk where more files are stamped. The routine stamping underscores the meticulous, paper-bound nature of her environment. She remains unobtrusive as she completes small administrative tasks.

At her locker she briefly examines the jewelry again, weighing its significance. She then proceeds to an open-plan workspace, collecting an item from a pigeonhole on her path. The moment blends routine with a sense of concealed purpose.

She settles at her desk and begins organizing files. She reads notes on the backs of black-and-white photos and painstakingly records observations. Her careful, almost forensic attention suggests she is gathering evidence or compiling a dossier.

A group of men enters and walks down the hall as a woman in the background rises to attention. One man asks the protagonist for a document, and she complies without protest. The intrusion introduces a power dynamic and the pressures of a controlled environment.

She glances at the jewelry again and briefly tries it on, then hides it when another clerk passes by. The act reveals her carefulness and fear of being caught with the item. The moment heightens tension and suspense.

She is distracted by distant sobbing and goes to a window to investigate. Through the pane an elderly woman is seen wandering toward the building, disoriented and seeking help. Two men approach, calm her and lead her back toward the forest.

A group is spotted nearby and a prisoner rushes toward them, pushing the pair in a specific direction. The moment hints at a larger, concealed conflict outside the building's walls. The tension broadens from a private mission to a public, violent context.

The camera reveals the historical context in stark terms: at the edge of the forest, Jews are rounded up, stripped of belongings, and herded by soldiers under a General with a Nazi armband. The brutal scene anchors the film in its historical setting and foreshadows the protagonist's position within it. The juxtaposition of bureaucratic routine and violent cruelty intensifies the drama.

The General passes the office building as the main character closes the window and exits. The camera lingers on the forest beyond, then the song Absent fills the soundtrack as the screen cuts to black. Credits roll, closing the scene on the film's somber mood.