In the winter of 1942-43, a Jewish family leaps from a train going through Silesia. They are separated in the woods, and Leon, a local peasant who's now a farmer of some wealth, discovers the woman, Rosa, and hides her in his cellar. Leon's a middle-aged Catholic bachelor, tormented by his sexual drive. He doesn't tell Rosa he's seen signs her husband is alive, and he begs her to love him. Rosa offers herself to Leon if he'll help a local Jew in hiding who needs money. Leon pays, and love between Rosa and him does develop, but then Leon's peasant subservience and his limited empathy lead to tragedy. At the war's end, a ray of sunshine comes from an unexpected place.

Genres

Cast

Armin Mueller-Stahl

Leon Wolny

Wojciech Pszoniak

Cybulkowski

Gerd Baltus

Geistlicher

Margit Carstensen

Eugenia

Kurt Raab

Maslanko

Tilly Lauenstein

Frau Kaminska

Hans Beerhenke

Kaspar

Anita Höfer

Pauline

Klaus Abramowsky

Herr Rubin

Małgorzata Gebel

Frau Rubin