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This romantic encounter unfolds in a situation where two young people meet whilst competing against each other for a job. Using a setting that is dark and threatening at the start of the scene Olmi shows us how each candidate is made to feel isolated and alone. The young man finds himself entirely surrounded by other male competitors until the moment where he goes to collect the copies, where he spies, for the first time, the young woman.

Separating the two characters to either end of the table at dinner time makes an exchange of glances between them difficult, if not impossible. He puts visual obstacles in their way, such as the newspaper that one of the other customers holds open in front of themselves, blocking the boy’s view of the young woman, only allowing him to snatch brief glimpses of her. Towards the end of the meal he can see her at last, although she doesn’t see him.

The distance between them decreases when they find themselves coming together at the till to pay their bills. They exchange a couple of words and then she heads off swiftly out to the street. He searches for her amongst the mass of people on the street, finally finding her standing outside a shop window, where they can at last share a brief word or two about the situation that they’ve just experienced.