Throughout the film Transit, written and directed by Christian Petzold, we follow a German refugee named Georg as he escapes Paris and flees to Marseille. While in Marseille he meets a number of other refugees, but Georg is shown to be a bit different from them. He calls Marseille a “port city”, and all the travelers in it have stories to tell about their great escape to the port. He doesn’t want to hear anybody’s tales of survival and he doesn’t want to share his own. At one point a woman with two dogs sits with Georg. He asks her nothing, but she nevertheless rambles on about saving the dogs and fleeing for her life. Georg doesn’t care about her or the dogs or the story, and he promptly leaves. Fast forward in the film and Georg is still trying to leave Marseille, but now he has made a number of friends in the city. As he walks alone down the empty streets the same woman he met earlier approaches him. She no longer has the dogs, but openly invites Georg to eat lunch with her. He is surprised but accepts. Upon sitting down the quiet Georg starts to talk while the usually talkative woman says nothing. He asks about the dogs, and all she’ll say is that they’re gone. Georg tries to respond but the woman cuts him off, saying that she doesn’t want to talk, she just wants someone to eat with so she won’t be alone. I believe this scene is beautiful because it shows the growth of two characters and how they have almost swapped mindsets. Initially the woman babbles on about her story even though Georg couldn’t care less and just wants to sit in silence. Once Georg has had a few experiences of his own and the two meet again he’s the one who tries to talk to diffuse tension, while she just wants to enjoy the silence together. I think it shows in a wonderful way how traumatic events can change anyone and everyone’s way of acting and treating people, and that when two people have gone through horrible times, it might just be best to sit in silence.