Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		4.0
Audio		2.5
Extras		3.5
Overall		3.5

Gregory's Girl Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman February 18, 2020

Bill Forsyth has delivered a number of rather charming films wherein his native country of Scotland figures in one way or the other. Many folks (including my wife) count Forsyth’s Local Hero as among their favorite films, and for anyone similarly inclined, Gregory’s Girl is almost certain to please. This is another Forsyth offering that, much like Local Hero, offers what some may feel are “eccentric” characters, though in this case there’s the added element that several of the square pegs trying desperately to fit into round holes are teenagers. Chief among these is one Gregory Underwood (John Gordon Sinclair), a gangly kid who doesn't seem to take things too seriously, including acting as his school's football* team's forward, something that annoys the heck out his coach Phil Menzies (Jake D'Arcy). When Coach Menzies decides to try to shake things up a little on the team, he has an open practice to recruit new players, and (shades of what would be a "Title IX" film in the United States), a rather talented girl named Dorothy (Dee Hepburn) shows up and proves to be a very good player.

*This film takes place in Scotland, and so "football" of course means soccer.

That sets up the halting romantic angle the film then continues to exploit, as Gregory becomes hopelessly infatuated with Dorothy once she starts actually playing for the team (he's actually more than a little infatuated from the moment he sees her), and she seems at least open to the idea of a relationship. The film really is more of a vignette driven enterprise, though, often darting off into little anecdotal (and frequently quite charming) asides featuring Gregory's cohort, all of whom are seen in the film's opening sequence spying on a nurse who's getting undressed, in one indication of their general hormonal state throughout the film. Things don't move in a straight line in Gregory's Girl, and indeed they often don't do in "real life", but that gives the film its rather unique and undeniable flavor.

The kind of casual nature Forsyth brings to this project really pays off, with a group of very young actors all seeming very natural and blending well with the few adults in the story. Still, it's arguable that Gregory and maybe his little sister Madeleine (Allison Forster) are the only really well developed characters in the film, which is not to say that the other characters aren't instantly recognizable and relatable. That said, many of the supporting characters are almost interchangeable and tend to function as props for the story's kind of haphazard trajectory rather than as paradigms of what the screenwriting classes call an "emotional arc". But that, too, helps to give Gregory's Girl its really sweet and charming ambience. This may not be a film with huge laughs, but it's almost always amusing and heartfelt.

Gregory's Girl Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Gregory's Girl is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Film Movement Classics, an imprint of Film Movement, with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.85:1. As with some other Film Movement releases, the insert booklet touts a "2K restoration" without providing any provenance of whatever element was utilized or any other technical data. In his Gregory's Girl Blu-ray review of the UK version that Second Sight put out several years ago, Svet mentions that that version was based off of a restoration done at Pinewood, but I haven't been able to track down whether or not this master is related to that one in any way. Judging solely by screenshots (not always a completely reliable gambit), the Film Movement Classics version looks substantially similar if not outright identical to the Second Sight release, though the Film Movement Classics version does look to my eyes to just be incrementally darker, with a slightly more blue undertone at times. One way or the other, the transfer boasts some really nice fine detail levels (look at the fuzz on the shoulder of Gregory's sweater in screenshot 1 for just one example). Clarity and detail levels do tend to vary somewhat, and are obviously affected by some lighting conditions, with some dark scenes both in the opening and especially toward the end of the film looking a good deal grittier than the bulk of the presentation. Grain does resolve naturally, though, and I noticed no major compression issues.

Gregory's Girl Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

The one place where this Film Movement Classics release does not meet the standards of the Second Sight release is with regard to the audio, which unfortunately is presented only in lossy Dolby Digital 2.0. Now it must be admitted that Gregory's Girl doesn't feature an overly ambitious sound design, and the lossy track certainly delivers dialogue and effects well enough, but the midrange and low end can seem a little anemic at times (when Gregory plays the drums early in the film, it almost sounds like he's playing on a toy set). As with previous releases of Gregory's Girl, this release offers the original English soundtrack and the redubbed "Anglicized" version that was made for American audiences. There's a very noticeable low frequency hum in the opening couple of minutes of the original track which is still evident but minimized in the "American" version. One way or the other, Film Movement might want to consider upping its game and providing consumers with lossless audio, one of the supposed "selling points" of this format.

Gregory's Girl Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Most of this release's supplements were offered on the Second Sight release for the UK market which came out several years ago. Svet provides additional information on the supplements in his Gregory's Girl Blu-ray review of that edition.

• Audio Commentary with Bill Forsyth and Mark Kermode


• Bill Forsyth on Gregory's Girl Interview (1080p; 20:43)


• Bill Forsyth - The Early Years Interview (1080p; 20:01)


• Gregory's Girl Memories - An Interview with Clare Grogan (1080p; 10:59)


• Gregory's Girl Trailer (1080p; 1:37)

Additionally, trailers for other Film Movement releases are included, and the release also comes with a nicely appointed insert booklet with cast and crew information, technical data, and an essay by Jonathan Murray.

Gregory's Girl Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

I experienced the absolutely sweet earnestness of the Scottish people firsthand last year when my wife spent some wonderful vacation time in Edinburgh. One perfect example of at least one kind of Scottish sensibility occurred when we were walking through the incredibly gorgeous Princes Street park that abuts Edinburgh's famous castle, and we stopped to get some ice cream at a little cart. The owner was playing some great old jazz on his radio, and I asked him about Edinburgh's jazz scene, but I almost interrupted myself to then ask the guy about nearby places to eat (as in a full meal). The gentleman paused for a moment, and said, "Hold on — I'm trying to answer your first question with quality," which instantly endeared the guy to both of us. There's that same level of unabashed integrity and charm in droves throughout Gregory's Girl, and any fan of other Forsyth films featuring "eccentric" Scot will almost certainly love this little story, which often plays like an anime "slice of life" offering. Video is solid, but Film Movement has only provided lossy audio. With caveats noted, Gregory's Girl comes Recommended.