Review.
Second Sight have released Gregory's Girl on both DVD and Blu-ray. It was the former which was supplied for review, and comments below and affiliate links above refer to that edition. For affiliate links for the Blu-ray, go here. The DVD is dual-layered in PAL format and encoded for all regions.
After a “restored by Pinewood” caption, the transfer begins with the original green A certificate (the equivalent of today's PG) as issued by what was then called the British Board of Film Censors, an instant nostalgic trigger for those of a certain age. Nowadays, due to some moderate language (a “wanker” and two “pricks”) and an opening scene where several boys spy on a student nurse getting undressed in her room, Gregory's Girl now sits within the bounds of a 12 certificate.
Gregory's Girl was shot in 35mm and the DVD is in the intended ratio of 1.85:1, anamorphically enhanced. This was never the visually most slick of films, due mainly to the small budget, and much of it has a natural-light look, which as this is Scotland is not especially bright. However, the transfer does look the way the film has always looked. Grain is present, but is natural and filmlike.
The soundtrack is the original mono, which is clear and well-balanced. English subtitles are available for the hard of hearing. However, there is a second original soundtrack available: a redub (the “Edinburgh Version”, Forsyth calls it) for the film's US release. This tones down some of the stronger Scottish accents, and has a noticeable difference in ambience.
The extras begin with a commentary by Forsyth, talking to Mark Kermode, who is clearly a big fan of the film and of Forsyth's work. However, Kermode steers the conversation clear of too much of a love-in and the result is an interesting if not over-detailed chat concerning a film Forsyth is proud of, though he acknowledges its flaws – an unduly slow pace, for one.
Inevitably much of this overlaps with a to-camera interview with Forsyth, “Bill Forsyth: The Early Years” (20:06). As he reveals, he had little interest in film early on, but developed one when he got a job with a film company after school, and started watching films in earnest, mostly arthouse rather than commercial material. He then moved into making documentaries, and actually wrote the first draft of Gregory's Girl before making That Sinking Feeling. Making two films with young people was a calculated move: both to keep the budget down and also to gain experience in working with actors as they were similarly at the beginnings of their career. That Sinking Feeling was made first, when financing for Gregory's Girl fell through. (The BFI turned down Gregory's Girl on the grounds that it was too commercial, and you can see why it would have been an odd fit for the films the BFI was making at the time.) Following That Sinking Feeling, Forsyth was approached by Belling and Parsons, and the film was made for about ten times the budget he had failed to find previously.
The second interview is with Clare Grogan, “Gregory's Girl Memories” (11:04). She met Forsyth when she was working as a waitress in a restaurant called the Spaghetti Factory, where he was a regular customer. He offered her the role in Gregory's Girl then, and she went on the play the role just after leaving school. Her “dance” sequence with Sinclair was Forsyth's idea, but improvised by the two of them on location.
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