Review: Gregory’s Girl 4K UHD
4K UHD Blu-ray: Gregory’s Girl (1980)
Newly restored from the original camera negative, this 4K UHD release by the BFI makes this coming-of-age classic comedy of Scottish cinema look better than its ever done and belies the fact that it is now over 40 years old.
Eschewing the usual movie view that teenagers school days were a never ending series of parties and making out, writer/director Bill Forsyth grounds everything in a more realistic fashion, with the titular 15 year old Gregory (John Gordon Sinclair) not being able to emotionally handle the fact that the school football team has now brought in a girl…the shock…the horror…the sexual awakenings!
More a ‘slice of life’ than an actual self contained narrative, Gregory’s Girl is a beautiful and charming look into a time in everyones life where you already thought that you knew most everything, but then a curveball is thrown at you and come to realise that in fact you know nothing at all…as do the ‘grown ups’ whom you thought must surely have a handle on everything by now.
Sinclair excels as a loveable bumbling and gangly young man whose self doubts and confusions trip him up almost as much as his uncoordinated feet.
Dee Hepburn as Dorothy, the girl who is suddenly flung into Gregory’s life on and off of the football pitch, is perfect casting; coy and yet confident, with the flicky hairstyle which was all the rage back then. While Clare Grogan as the sassy Susan brings an energy to the screen every time she appears.
Keeping a fine film grain, the picture quality is the best I’ve seen for this movie, with great colour definition (the football jerseys look like they were made yesterday) and showing details I’d never noticed before.
A mix of both old and new special features rounds off a great package to a much loved movie…just don’t go watching it with the alternative American dialogue track!
SPECIAL FEATURES:
- 4K (2160p) UHD Blu-ray presentation in Dolby Vision (HDR10 compatible)
- Limited edition including booklet and slipcase
- The Strathclyde Tapes: Bill Forsyth (1992, 38 mins): the writer and director discusses his career and film craft with an audience of schoolchildren. He talks about the filmmaking process, themes and representations in his films and the prospect of Scotland attaining its own ‘film industry’
- Newly recorded audio commentary with Robert Buchanan, Douglas Sannachan and Caroline Guthrie
- Audio commentary with Bill Forsyth and Mark Kermode (2014)
- Bill Forsyth: The Early Years – an interview with the director (2014, 20 mins)
- Gregory’s Girl Memories – an interview with Clare Grogan (2014, 11 mins)
- Dee Hepburn, Clare Grogan and John Gordon Sinclair in Conversation (2015, 31 mins): the stars of Gregory’s Girl are interviewed on stage by Sue Harris to mark the film’s 25th anniversary
- Soundtrack gallery (2023, 13 mins): a selection of images from the BFI National Archive accompanied by composer Colin Tully’s music for Gregory’s Girl
- Alternative US audio soundtrack
- Original trailer
- Illustrated booklet with new essays by Tim Blanchard, David Archibald and Claire Walker
Review by Dave from a disc kindly supplied by the BFI.
