Director Paulus Manker builds the tension in this dramatic and symbolic thriller to a shocking climax. Joseph Schmutz (Fritz Schediwy) is a self-effacing man who gets a job as a security guard at an abandoned paper mill. He shares his duties with another guard who is something of a goof-off. Eventually, the joker gets sacked for his behavior and Schmutz is left alone to guard the buildings. As time progresses, he becomes increasingly obsessed with his responsibilities to the property until his job as a guard begins to take over his life. He will guard the buildings against anyone and everyone -- even his boss, even a child he finds breaking windows, even the men who come to raze the buildings as ordered.
