All time favourite movie? (dance, metal, rock, reviews, cover)

jackhammer · 02-09-2008, 03:27 PM

GREGORY'S GIRL (1981)

Considering my taste in movies, this may seem an odd choice but I can still can't seem to lose my love for it.

I should imagine many younger posters here have never even heard of the film. It was a low budget Scottish movie that boasted no major stars (although Clare Grogan enjoyed a modicum of success in 80's pop band Altered Images), was set on a council estate and technically uninspiring. What it has got is a fantastic, heartfelt and honest script.

Gregory is a gawky 14 year old lad who has a fixation for a girl who tries out for the school football team, of which he is the goalkeeper. His journey into trying to capture her heart leads him on a very different path to the original he had envisaged. There are many themes in the film that only become apparent on rewatching many times. The women in Gregory's life are far more emotionally smarter than him. This includes his younger sister and the schoolgirls who conspire to match Gregory with the girl he SHOULD be with. The film has a surreal, even zany sense of humour bubbling under the surface. The appearance of a young student dressed as a penguin wandering the school corridors aimlessly is repeated. Gregory's older brother who is a fantastic cook, and who bribes the school head is another strange figure. He is played absolutely straight, but the idea of a working class Scottish teenager being adept at cookery and fancy cakes is slightly surreal.

The film is one of the sweetest evocations of being a typically awkward teenager struggling for identity. It is played so natural and honestlyand resonated with me To this day it remains my favourite ever movie. I have seen many better acted films, better directed films but barely none as honestly and innocently made.

So c'mon what ya got?

02-09-2008, 03:27 PM	#1 (permalink)
jackhammer Ba and Be. Join Date: May 2007 Location: This Is England Posts: 17,331	All time favourite movie? GREGORY'S GIRL (1981) Considering my taste in movies, this may seem an odd choice but I can still can't seem to lose my love for it. I should imagine many younger posters here have never even heard of the film. It was a low budget Scottish movie that boasted no major stars (although Clare Grogan enjoyed a modicum of success in 80's pop band Altered Images), was set on a council estate and technically uninspiring. What it has got is a fantastic, heartfelt and honest script. Gregory is a gawky 14 year old lad who has a fixation for a girl who tries out for the school football team, of which he is the goalkeeper. His journey into trying to capture her heart leads him on a very different path to the original he had envisaged. There are many themes in the film that only become apparent on rewatching many times. The women in Gregory's life are far more emotionally smarter than him. This includes his younger sister and the schoolgirls who conspire to match Gregory with the girl he SHOULD be with. The film has a surreal, even zany sense of humour bubbling under the surface. The appearance of a young student dressed as a penguin wandering the school corridors aimlessly is repeated. Gregory's older brother who is a fantastic cook, and who bribes the school head is another strange figure. He is played absolutely straight, but the idea of a working class Scottish teenager being adept at cookery and fancy cakes is slightly surreal. The film is one of the sweetest evocations of being a typically awkward teenager struggling for identity. It is played so natural and honestlyand resonated with me To this day it remains my favourite ever movie. I have seen many better acted films, better directed films but barely none as honestly and innocently made. So c'mon what ya got? __________________ It be my music and film collection. “A cynic by experience, a romantic by inclination and now a hero by necessity.”