In a Nazi concentration camp, Karl, a German political prisoner, is sentenced to death for having steno-graphed forbidden radio program s. Another convict, David, is a modest clockmaker from Paris who had survived because he could repair the watches of the SS. The two Nazi camp commanders make a perverted bet: they lock both of the prisoners in a barbed wire enclosure and promise freedom to the one who kills the other by the end of the night.
In the words of Jean Cocteau, “Enclosure bears witness with an irresistible power... It grabs us by the scruff of the neck. It throws us face to face with this jellyfish head while our courage needs to stay strong and convince." « L’Enclos témoigne, au même titre que "Nuit et Brouillard", le film d’Alain Resnais. Il témoigne avec une puissance irrésistible. […] Il nous empoigne par la peau du cou. Il nous jette face à face avec cette tête de Méduse par laquelle notre courage doit se laisser pétrifier et convaincre. » Jean Cocteau, Les Lettres Françaises, 1961