Gold Top

It's Christmas Eve, and customers of Gold Top's milkman are dolling out the mince pies and the festive greetings. Meanwhile, his young runner, Kishore, has his own delivery to make, and he's been waiting all round to do it.

In between the stunning scenery and the run of the mill soundtrack of acoustic guitar strumming, Gold Top is a low key, sweet film. There is a lot going on – the film is set in Thatcherite Britain, after all. The film's central milkman is aware his time may be limited as he loses trade to the big supermarkets. There is a hint of racial tension when young Kishore meets customers on their doorsteps. But what holds it together is the sense of camaraderie between the film's central pair.

Although ultimately a love story (note: not between the 30-something milkman and the pre-pubescent helper) it's also an elegy. It's a tentative mourning for a perhaps imagined Britain, and a look ahead to a future shaped by tumultuous change.