In previous films including Illumination, Camouflage and The Constant Factor, Polish director Krzysztof Zanussi created characters who, like himself, are trained in scientific thinking, but who struggle to exist in a world of emotions. In Ways in the Night, Zanussi goes a step further in this examination of modern morality, though his tale is set in wartime Poland. Mathieu Carriere portrays a young German officer, Friedrich, who attempts to convince himself and others that, despite his being a German soldier stationed in Occupied Poland, his sensitivity and devotion to European culture raise him above the morass. He develops an obsession for a Polish countess who, for her part, despises his “typical German schizophrenia,” while events conspire to show him that he is not above murdering Polish partisans. Maja Komorowska portrays the countess with a convincing mixture of pride and politics, attraction and outrage, while Zbigniew Zapasiewicz (Camouflage, Wadja's Without Anesthesia) is excellent as her Italian teacher who mocks the Germans until they strike him down.