He goes into cafés, bars and the like, in search of the "secret face" -- someone the woman feels will be able to divulge some sort of secret, or possesses some sort of answer she needs. After a considerable amount of time, she finds the man with the "secret face" - a clock maker. By this time, the young man has fallen in love with the woman, who has disappeared with the clock maker. Obsessed, or haunted, by her and by clocks, he travels the country looking for them. I saw this at the Seattle Film Festival in 1991 or 1992, I think -- There were about 15 people at the screening, sad to say. I feel some need to comment here, that though my memory of it is spotty at this time, there are parts that STILL resonate within me. I remember walking out of the theater and wandering down the street, not sure if I wanted a drink, a cup of coffee, to be alone or... or... Just utterly captivated by it -- it so took me into it and dropped me off somewhere else; for the first time in YEARS I had the feeling that I had entered some other world and the buildings and objects on the street seemed foreign / alien to me; that odd, disoriented feeling I had first going to movies as a kid. I went to a park and sat on a bench near some water for about half an hour afterwards. To this day, its recollection is akin, if anything, to a scent one hasn't smelled in quite awhile, the way it evokes something unsayable. The fact that I saw it over a dozen years ago and still find something compelling about it, still think of it as one of the five greatest movies I've ever seen, says a thing or two.