Light Thereafter

Pavel, 16, idolises the reclusive artist, legendary French painter Arnaud. For Pavel, Arnaud’s Diaries are Holy Scriptures, and he lives by them. Pavel seizes his chance to go and find Arnaud.

He persuades his mother to let him stay with his well-off aunt in bourgeois Denmark, takes some money from his aunt and continues on to Copenhagen, en route to Arnaud. On the streets of Christiana, the free hippy state within the city, he meets Per, a charismatic ex-con, who lures him off track. They set off for France in Per’s "repossessed" van. On the road they pick up two young hitchhikers - Julie and Lola. Julie requests that they stop by her parents’ farm in Normandy. Rapidly, Pavel falls in love with Julie but their paths separate when Pavel decides to stick to his plan and go to Arnaud. He arrives at Arnaud’s secluded estate, where Arnaud’s wife takes pity on him and invites him in. Pavel explains he wants to be Arnaud’s apprentice. But when Arnaud returns and finds the stranger in his studio, he throws him out. In the ensuing confrontation, the misanthropic painter teaches Pavel a harsh but true life lesson. You can’t be like someone else, you have to be yourself. Pavel leaves and goes to Julie, finally free of his false idol.