My Summer of Love

(Herald rating: * * * * *)

Perfectly English, perfectly formed and as close to a perfect film as I've seen in a long time, this wonderful evocation of teenage infatuation would be sold short by being described as a coming-of-age story.

That's what it is, really, but the term conjures up a movie about sexual awakening and My Summer of Love, which was named best British film at this year's Baftas, is so much more than that.

Set in Yorkshire - the beautiful cinematography evokes a honeygold sunlit valley although it's plain that it's a gloomy and depressing place - it's the story of alienated teenage tomboy Mona (Press), whose parents have died. Her real name's Lisa, but she's been nicknamed "Moaner" by her guardian brother, a former small-time crim who has found the Lord and turned the family pub into a prayer centre.

Then comes love - or fascination - in the form of Tamsin (Blunt), the sleek, almond-eyed and sophisticated daughter of a wealthy local family, home for the holidays from her boarding school. As the two girls fall in with each other, it's plain Tamsin is making the running: she showers the working-class Mona with gifts and shows her the pleasure to be had in scandalising the town by sunbathing topless.

There's a certain inevitability about the way things become sexual, but the film treats that fact glancingly, as just another aspect of a relationship that is complicated and mysterious. This is not a lesbian affair but a teenage crush, driven by boredom as much as attraction, and it feels just right.

The striking class difference, written in the girls' looks, mannerisms and speech, is the film's dynamo: when Tamsin plays Saint-Saens' The Swan on the cello, Mona's face lights up: "Our pub's called The Swan!" she says.

She's not without the power of self-awareness - at one point she sketches out her probable future: "Get married, to a right bastard, churn out loads of kids with mental problems and then wait for menopause ... or cancer" - but the final shot will suggest that young Mona has a somewhat brighter future than that.

Working from a novel by Helen Cross, Pawlikowski, who wrote the spare and intelligent script, has perfectly evoked the time of life when humans pause between childhood and the rest of their lives. He has coaxed superb, unshowy performances from the two girls, and Considine, dangerous as always, is a great presence, too.

Films like this, that do so much so delicately and effortlessly, are rare. It's hard to praise it too highly.

CAST: Natalie Press, Emily Blunt, Paddy Considine
DIRECTOR: Pawel Pawlikowski
RUNNING TIME: 87 minutes
RATING: R16 (violence, offensive language, drug use, sex scenes)
SCREENING: Rialto