19. Gregory's Girl (1981)
Awkward teenager Gregory plays football in his utterly useless school team. To everyone's surprise, a girl called Dorothy comes on board the team and enchants Gregory with her physical beauty and footballing prowess. Gregory is desperate to hook up with Dorothy and he engineers a date. Unfortunately Dorothy can't make it but she sends her friend Carol who leads him through a procession of girls until he comes to Susan. Susan reveals the evening has been engineered by Dorothy and her friends but this deceit doesn't matter because Gregory has now developed a yen for Susan. A very engaging, coming of age Scottish drama, the viewer cannot help but be charmed by the film and this is largely due to the performances of John Gordon Sinclair as Gregory and Clare Grogan as Susan. Gregory's Girl is a tremendous feel good film which will instantly put you in a good mood. There is a kind of fresh innocence to the film which is pretty much devoid of nasty characters and sex mad teens drinking Buckfast in the carpark (as would be the case nowadays). Warmly praised by the critics, director Bill Forsyth excels on a tiny budget and makes Gregory's Girl a quintessential cult British film.
Clare Simpson
Contributor
My first film watched was Carrie aged 2 on my dad's knee. Educated at The University of St Andrews and Trinity College Dublin. Fan of Arthouse, Exploitation, Horror, Euro Trash, Giallo, New French Extremism. Weaned at the bosom of a Russ Meyer starlet. The bleaker, artier or sleazier the better!
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Clare