A beautiful film which centres around the love story between the adolescent Stig (Johan Widerberg) and his teacher (Marika Lagercrantz), and yet reaches so much further to tackle the issues of loss, war, friendship and hope. All of these issues are lived through by the main character who is in the tender moment between childhood and adulthood. The film is about learning and growing, about honesty and lies, about truth and dreams.

Apart from the taste of sexuality which Stig savours through his relationship with Viola, his teacher, he also learns about loss and war through the relationships with his parents and brother, about friendship and disillusion, through his conversations with Viola's husband, Kjell (Tomas von Brömssen), and about clumsy, young love with his classmate, Lisbet (Karin Huldt). The film is a complex interweaving of characters, desires and relationships. Every character is believable and every emotion leaves a true taste behind.

The acting is flawless throughout, though it is worth highlighting the performances of both Johan Widerberg, as the main character who manages to be both boy and man, and Tomas von Brömssen as the beautifully melancholic, alcoholic, husband.

For me, this film has one of the most powerful scenes of cinema, when Stig and Kjell are listening to a record together... This scene, a reflection of the whole film, is full of subtlety and power.