A young runaway rejects society's condemnation and dares to fulfill his dreams. France, 1930s. 14-year-old orphan Yves Tréguier sees the world through the bars of "educational homes" where he is raised in conditions worthy of a penal colony, and dreams of a dramatic escape across the ocean to New York.—The Film Catalogue

In 1932, In France, fourteen year-old runaway orphan Yves Tréguier is sent to a reformatory after several attempts to travel to New York as stowaway on a ship. In prison, Tréguier is protected by the aspirant mechanic Blondeau against the bully rascal Molina. He befriends the upper-class teenager Marcel "Fil de fer" Morand who was sent to the institution by his stepfather and misses his mother (Carole Bouquet) and his piano. Tréquier unsuccessfully tries to escape from the brutal reform school and invites Blondeau to go with him.—Claudio Carvalho, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil