杨·南曼奇在捷克新浪潮的地位，类似于雷奈在法国新浪潮一样。这是他的第一部剧情长片，描绘两个犹太男孩在被送往死亡集中营的途中，从火车上逃脱，被迫在乡野展开挣扎，艰难地求生存的故事，看似具备写实的基础，却被混合了幻想的影像，以及自由跳跃的叙事所重组。Diamonds in the night is the tense, brutal story of two Jewish boys who escape from a train transporting them from one concentration camp to another. Ultimately, they are hunted down by a group of old, armed home-guardists. The film goes beyond the themes of war and anti-Nazism and concerns itself with man's struggle to preserve human dignity.