First time director Pucis effectively sets up the conflict between heroism and self-preservation in the face of an all-seeing invader in this black-and-white docudrama set in 1945. In the wake of the second Soviet occupation, rural Catholic priest Antons Juhnevics helps local men escape forced conscription in the oppressor's army by hiding them on the church grounds. The danger and the tension build to a showdown in the snowy woods, as the ruse is prolonged with fateful consequences.