Ripstein's third film is a stylistically striking and Surrealist-inflected departure from his previous works, an assertion and exploration of difference that revels the ambition and narrative acumen of its young director. Shot in black-and-white, The Children’s Hour follows the minimalist story of a clown who comes to a city to babysit a young boy, strictly following and eventually reinventing the parents' careful instructions not to scare their son with any frightening stories. Taking place almost entirely within the boy's apartment home, this rarely seen apprentice work is a revealing early expression of the enclosed Kammerspiel settings and claustrophobic narrative that remain crucial to Ripstein's later films.