Absent Without Leave

When Daisy gets pregnant and Ed agrees to marry her, love comes as a surprise, but the army is on Ed's trail.

ABSENT WITHOUT LEAVE is a love story set on the roads of wartime New Zealand. It is the story of two young people struggling with their commitment to each other. Daisy is sixteen, pregnant, far from family support and very dependant on Ed. Ed is twenty-one and grappling with this new responsibility. Their already vulnerable marriage is challenged when Ed is called-up for the army and they are separated. The film follows Ed's conflict as he tries to balance his commitment to Daisy with his duty to the army. Learning that he is to be sent to war - without final leave - Ed impulsively goes AWOL. He resolves to take Daisy to her father in Auckland, where she can safely sit out the war. With few resources they set about hitchhiking north. However their journey is neither as simple nor as rapid as they had expected. As the days stretch on Ed is torn between returning to camp and staying with his wife. The situation is further complicated when Ed and Daisy are taken in by a farming couple. In this idyllic setting they are able to forget their troubles - but the army has not forgotten Ed and their new-found happiness is in danger of being shattered.