At their 25th high-school anniversary some bourgeois citizens remember their time in school as a happy one. In reality it was quite the contrary. The school was a madhouse in which the teachers, especially Blomme, tormented the students. As a result one of them became a murderer.

Karl Åge and Regitze host a summer garden party for close friends, their son, and his family. Karl Åge is quiet, detached; Regitze is spirited, lively. He thinks back: love at first sight during the war, living together unmarried, her mother's hunger strike when they won't baptize their son. Regitze is passionate and forthright; she speaks her mind. He remembers her inviting a derelict for Christmas dinner, and the man shows up with five bashful friends. He recalls her taking on their son's teacher when the man slaps the lad. He remembers her love of dancing and his fear that his social clumsiness might end their relationship. Now, in twilight, he has other things to face.

Benny and Arnold are homeless and along with others living on Nørrebro in Copenhagen. The police is set to clear the building they squat in, but on the night of the forced eviction, local acid head Spacy jumps from the sixth floor.

From a working class coming-of-age novel, Morten Arnfred fashioned his feature film to recapture the feel, the sting, the pain, but also the spirit of solidarity of the 1950s in the metropolitan city of Copenhagen: at the center, young Johnny, helpless, hapless, happy, unhappy, going through the motions of growing up. Bodil awards: Best Film and Best Actor (Allan Olsen).