The Desperate Ones on AllMovie

In this drama, two Polish brothers escape from a Russian labor camp and try to join the exiled Polish Army in Afghanistan. While awaiting the man who will sneak them over the border, they rent a room. There, one of them falls in love with the landlord's wife, and the other for a local waitress. The Russian secret police are everywhere around them, so every action is taken with great anxiety. The pressure of waiting mounts as the days stretch on. One of the brothers was injured in labor camp and is rapidly losing his vision. The other is struck down by typhoid on the day they are to leave. He must immediately have adrenaline or he will die and so begs the landlord to get it for him. While the landlord is gone, the almost-blind brother makes love to the landlord's wife, and afterwards the guilt-filled wife attempts suicide but is saved by the ailing brother. The landlord returns, and the brothers attempt their escape. The landlord, his wife, the smuggler, and his family go too, but, unfortunately, they are spotted at the border. The brother with typhoid makes one final sacrifice to assure the safety of the others.