Summary

Pabst remains in Prague long enough to complete a final cut of The Molander Case, working with Franz Wilzek in the cutting room and correcting shots, music cues, and transitions with obsessive precision. As the front collapses, an evacuation order arrives, and Franz scrambles to pack the film into metal cans, loading five reels into an army rucksack and two more into a burlap sack so they can carry the work out of the studio. They make their way to the train station amid confusion and crowds, trying to keep the reels intact as the city empties.

On the train, Pabst and Franz confront the physical cost of flight and the humiliations of being reduced to passengers. In Vienna, Pabst wakes in pain and notices that Franz’s rucksack looks different. A farrier and his son confront them, insisting that Franz mistakenly took their...