Rarely does the camera let us know. Ackerman has said that she is drawn to faces in all their diversity. In that moment, they detach themselves from the crowd. As the camera again moves on, they lie briefly in the film's world, between anonymity and individuality. They also lie somewhere between a Communist past and an unknown future.
History can evoke a sense of loss, as old worlds pass away, or promise.
The riddle, I know, is always greater still for Jews, shown in several scenes. For a Jew in Europe , the very link to the past must come with a struggle against hatred and authority. But the riddle of the present suffuses these scenes, which flow from Germany into Russia. The 107-minute movie runs continually, so that people come and go as one sits, emphasizing even further the immediate passing of time. Perhaps unfairly to Ackerman, I was left with little concern for a larger unfolding, the film's structure, as I ducked in and out myself.