Franz Polzer is a man who is dominated by irrational fears; even a friendly smile seems to conceal a hidden menace. He keeps the world at bay by organising his life according to the meticulous routine of his work as a bank clerk. He even rejects promotion because it brings the unknown that will threaten to upset his ordered existence. But this precarious order is disturbed by the sexual demands of his landlady. Once the first breach has ...

Josef Blau is a high school teacher in pre WWI Prague. Because he comes from a background less privileged than that of his pupils, he becomes increasingly insecure--then devastatingly obsessive. Rigid about order and discipline, he imagines his pupils watching him, waiting for the slightest weakness. The least infringement, he feels, will lead to the complete collapse of his tightly-ordered world. His other obsession is his attractive wife. ...