GREGORY'S GIRL

UK, 1981, 91 minutes, Colour.
John Gordon Sinclair, Dee Hepburn.
Directed by Bill Forsyth.

Gregory's Girl was a very popular success at the box office. It brought Scottish director Bill Forsyth (That Sinking Feeling) not only to critical attention but to world audiences. Forsythe was to go on to make Local Hero (with Burt Lancaster) and Comfort and Joy.

This film is set in a new Scottish town and focuses on teenager, the gawky Gregory. A daydreamer, he is not successful at football, is eager to meet girls. Along with his friends, he is very awkward. There is a crisis when Dorothy, whom Gregory dotes on, is put into the football team and he is moved out.

There are some delightful vignettes from character actors playing headmasters, football coaches, teachers. The teenagers are an enjoyable group quite credible even though their worries are exaggerated for comic effect. While the film has a distinctly Scottish atmosphere, it is of universal appeal.

1. The reasons for the world-wide success of this film? Its Scots style? Universal appeal?

2. The atmosphere of Scotland? Accents? Of the town? The characters? Lifestyle?

3. The film as a slice of life? Authentic? Acute observation of characters and situations? A film of humour and charm?

4. The portrait of the Scots teenage boys? Their home background, relationship with parents? Amongst themselves? Teenage talk? Sex longings? The focus on the girls? Awkwardness and shyness? The football team? Classes? The cooking classes? The photos on sale? Dating? Unfulfilled longings as they grew up?

5. The parallel with the girls? At home, in classes? Dorothy on the football field? Dating? The girls in command? The irony of Gregory's sister, Gregory's girl Madeleine and her wisdom and helping Gregory?

6. The reverses for Gregory and the boys? The girls and their aloofness? Dorothy and her request to join the soccer team, the reaction of the coach, her going onto the field and succeeding? The contrast with the boys in the cooking classes and their success?

7. The portrait of Gregory - gangly, nice, awkward? The ogling of the girls? His longings? Football and his being ousted? The chance encounter with his driving instructor father? His sister and her help? The range of his friends? The coach and his being dropped from the team? The infatuation with Dorothy? Trying to be near her and touch her on the football field? The photos on sale? Discovering that Dorothy wanted to go to Italy? His Italian classes? The sequences with his friend? The date - and the irony of the girls moving him from one to the other? His teaching Susan 'horizontal dancing'? His kissing her goodnight? Had he recovered from Dorothy?

8. Andy and Steve? Comparisons with Gregory? The same experiences? Ogling the nurses? The cooking class? The headmaster and food? On the road at the end, thumbing to Caracas?

9. Dorothy and the girls, their attitudes towards the boys, in class, Dorothy and the football, her success on the field? Leading the boys on? The girls passing Gregory from one to the other on the date?

10. The headmaster and his attitudes, the cooking, playing the piano, his disdain of the small boys? The interview with Menzies and his nervousness?

11. Menzies, his football coaching, attitudes towards the boys, the interview with the headmaster, the taking on of Dorothy, her success?

12. The teachers and their role in the class, in the school?

13. The window cleaner and his worldly wisdom? His encounter with the teacher during the window-cleaning?

14. An enjoyable comedy of adolescence? A gentle sex comedy? Nostalgia about growing up?