This is a beautifully photographed and charming evocation of a childhood in a small fishing village in Fife in the late 1940s and early 50s. It was filmed in Orkney, but is based on Christopher Rush's semi-autobiographical "A Twelvemonth and a Day", set in St Monans. The first collaboration of producer Christopher Young and director Ian Sellar has many touching moments, but is never over-sentimental at any point. The eponymous Peter is brought up by his grandfather (Ray McAnally) and educated about life and beauty by his Miss Brodie-like teacher, played by the lovely Sinead Cusack. The film is episodic rather than a narrative in form, though there is a theme throughout of the boy's sense of longing for the sea and his absent father. The acting is uniformly excellent. the direction superb, and even the occasional background music appropriate and haunting. A supremely well-crafted and under-rated example of Scottish cinema at its finest.