I assume a good deal of time has passed from the trial to this day, the day of Miroslaw’s execution. It begins with Piotr entering the prison ground through an iron gate. He seems shocked at the sounds of the heavy metal doors closing behind him. Next he is inside the prison, waiting to speak to the warden.

A worker brings in a ladder behind him. It’s the most banal worker activity, but it is all part of the stage direction that makes an execution possible. Piotr witnesses a balding man in a suit enter the grounds. A guard asks how he is — too hot, he replies. Just another day, just more weather on this, Miroslaw’s execution day.

The balding man walks down a long dark corridor, then unlocks a heavy door. When he enters, the room is dimly lit — just one florescent light on the wall. There are three chairs at a small desks, only one of them has a back, and there’s a black telephone and a metal ashtray on the table. Smoking is always a given in a Kieslowski.

The man takes off his jacket, rolls up his sleeves, checks out the adjacent bathroom. He opens curtains on the far end of the room. There is a lever inside, and then we see the noose. Yes, they will be hanging Miroslaw this day. The man finds a can of oil and uses it to grease the pulley system for the noose. He checks out the trap door, which is working. He puts a yellow pan underneath it.

Another, younger man enters the room. The balding man says that the curtain is stuck. He starts to work on the curtain. The older man tells him to “clean up in here.” The balding man is next seen back in his suit coat, a set of keys in his right hand, walking up a staircase. He knocks on a door and is told to come in. A man in a green military suit sits at the desk. The balding man, who we now assume is the executioner, tells the man at the desk, the warden, that everything is ready.

We next cut back to Piotr who is reading a document. He’s speaking to the warden. He tells him that he has a half hour. Piotr nods. The warden then tells a guard to escort Piotr somewhere. Piotr runs into the prosecutor on the way to see Miroslaw, who has asked to speak to him. Piotr tells him that this is his first. The prosecutor responds, I hope it is your last. Before walking off, the prosecutor congratulates Piotr on recently having a son.

We see that man with the ladder again. It appears to be the watcher, once more.