Gregory's Two Girls

If girls' sports movies and teen comedies became a trend in Hollywood as the 1980s came along, then Bill Forsyth's Gregory's Girl is a fresh, intrinsically Scottish variant of the genre. These young people show their acne-blemished faces and youthful edges and talk honestly with a Scottish accent the American audience does not fully understand. Despite the problems of puberty familiar to all of us, the film's atmosphere is light enough to be almost sunny. The opening scenes reveal that it's all about sex, first love and soccer – in that order. Oh, the innocence when the skinny Gregory falls for the "gorgeous" Dorothy. Even though she replaces him in the school's (lousy) soccer team! The gender setup in Gregory's Girl is an interesting one. The actively jogging Dorothy is better at soccer than the boys, while also having complete control over every situation. The other girls, too, take the initiative in their own hands. Occasionally the boys draw, embarrassingly, the short straw and are (naturally) clearly less developed. Gregory's little sister gives her brother advice on what to do with girls... (Midnight Sun Film Festival)