Fifty-Six Hours of Truancy

It is the year 1961. Seventeen-year-old Honza loves jazz and Lenka, his classmate from the grammar school. His friends Arnošt and Ivoš ask him to join them and run away abroad; they plan to cross the tightly sealed border into Poland and go overseas. Blithely, Honza agrees. Their classmates take all this to be just a gag. Meanwhile, Honza's strict father, who is irritated by his son's late arrivals and lamentable study results, throws his son out of the flat. Honza temporarily stays with his friend Jiří, whose mother is tolerant of her son's visitors and their idleness. Honza sells his bicycle in order to get some money for the trip. A conversation with the headmaster, who threatens to expel Honza, leaves him totally underwhelmed. Howerer, he does not have the courage to tell Lenka about his feelings. Because of his love for his parents, Arnošt eventually decides to stay in the country. The farewell party with friends is carefree and unconcerned with the boys' departure. Honza spends his last night with Helena, who has been secretly in love with him. Ivoš and Honza get on the train with a banjo and a clarinet. They walk through the woods and cross a brook to Poland. When Ivoš goes off into the bushes to relieve himself, Honza is detained by border patrol. Playing the banjo, he manages to persuade them that he went hiking and lost his way. The father comes to pick up his son; they start talking and finally find their way through to each other. Honza then finds Ivoš at his mother's place. Honza knows that he is going to be expelled, but that he will be allowed to continue his studies at another school. In the evening, nobody is surprised when Honza arrives to join his friends at a café.