Review of Billy Elliot

I watched Billy Elliot for the first time when I was 12 years old, but I didn't understand the film and I didn't like it. However, I decided to give it another try and I'm happy to have done this. Billy Elliot is a very emotional and amazing film which deals with a lot of interesting themes. The film is very well done, and the actors do a very good job. Furthermore, the film is British and not American, which is reflected in the themes and the story, considering that it centers more on the society and the effects it has on the characters. 

The story is about an 11 year old boy called Billy Elliot (Jamie Bell), who lives, in the year 1984, in a fictional village from the United Kingdom. He lives with his grandmother (Jean Heywood), his widowed father Jackie (Gary Lewis) and his brother Tony (Jamie Draven). Jackie and Tony are both miners, and their family lives in very poor conditions. To make things worse, the miners have started a strike and they have stopped from working demanding better work conditions, and Billy's father and brother are in favor of it. In this context, Billy is forced by his father to learn boxing, but he isn't interested in learning it. However, one day he sees a ballet class and he becomes interested in dancing. This awakens in Billy a very strong passion for ballet and he wants to take classes, but he fears that his father discovers it. Nonetheless, Billy's ballet teacher, Sandra Wilkinson (Julie Walters), will help him to fulfill his dream of becoming a dancer.

The film has a lot of interesting themes, many of which reflect very well the society of the age of the film. One of the things I think that increases the interest of the film is that the political context is real because there was a miners' strike in 1984. This gives the themes more force because all of them are related to a real context. The society in which Billy lives is very hard and even the children have lost their innocence, which is clearly seen with the daughter of Billy's teacher or the same Billy. He is plainly aware of the situation of his family and the society he lives in, but instead of accepting these things, Billy rebels against the prejudices of the society. The most obvious example of this is that he wants to be a dancer when the others think that it is an activity for girls and that boys should do football or boxing. I like a quote from Billy that reflects what I'm talking about: "Just because I like ballet doesn't mean I'm a poof, you know." So one of the things that characterizes the society where Billy lives is that it is very prejudiced and that if something is out of the normal, people becomes very angry.

Apart from Billy, another two important characters are his father Jackie and his brother Tony. I think that Jackie is a man who has lost hope for life because he has lost his wife and his job is very bad. That's why he is in favor of the strike because he thinks that his life is destroyed and that if he strikes he doesn't have anything to lose and he can have the remote hope of improve his condition. All this makes him have an authoritarian behavior with his sons and when he discovers that Billy is interested in ballet he forces him to stop taking ballet classes, fearing that people call him a poof. Regarding Tony's character, I think that he is in favor of the strike because he really wants to improve his work conditions. But I think that there is also another reason: that he likes revolution and fighting with the authorities, given that he wants to do the strike in his own way and gets very angry when his father disapproves his methods. These two characters are also a good example of the hard society and people that surrounds Billy.

However, behind the authority of Jackie and the harshness of Tony, we can see a very beautiful and well-reflected theme: family love. Although Jackie and Tony disapprove the idea of Billy being a dancer, they soon realize that that is what Billy really wants. On Christmas day, Billy finally decides to show to his father that he is indeed a good dancer by dancing in front of him (I think that this is one of the best scenes in the film). Later, Jackie discovers that Billy's teacher wanted him to participate in an audition to enter the Royal Ballet School in London and he starts working again to raise all the money needed to pay the trip to London because he has realized that Billy loves ballet. Tony discovers that his father is working again and shouts at him, but Jackie starts crying. I think that he cries because Billy deserved a happy life, considering that he was still young and that he had his whole life ahead of him. From now on, Jackie and Tony decide to raise money so they can make Billy's dream come true.

They finally do it and Billy goes to the audition. However, Billy doesn't enter the school for hitting another examinee. But one day he receives a letter from the school saying that he has been admitted and the news makes all the family very happy. The best example of how much Jackie has changed and how much he loves Billy is when he runs along the street with a happy face and shouts that his son had been admitted. In this same moment the strike finishes with good results and the family starts a new life. I like this theme very much  because it reflects very well the love among the members of a family, all of them will help each other even when the situation is difficult. The ending scene is also representative of the love of the family because several years later Jackie and Tony go to see an adult Billy acting in a play and they are very moved for seeing him happy and with the life he wanted.

Finally, I think that there are other very interesting characters. On the one hand, we have Billy's best friend, who near the end of the film confesses being homosexual and having hid it for fearing the reaction of the people. This also reflects the theme of the prejudices because being homosexual is socially looked down upon. On the other hand, I think that the character of Billy's teacher is interesting because she demonstrates that in the hard society of the film there are also good people who help the others. She helps Billy to fulfill his dreams and without her help he wouldn't have entered the Royal Ballet School.

I've personally liked the film very much because the themes it deals with are very interesting and credible. It may not have the best and most original story, but the form it is told caught my attention. I think that the plot is very well written, with very nice dialogs and very appealing scenes. The actors are all very good, especially Jamie Bell, who performs the role of Billy Elliot. Finally, I also think that the music is amazing and that the songs shown are very good. In short, the film has exceeded my expectations since the first time I saw it and I hope that there were more films like this because nowadays the industry is not in its best moment as regards to good films.

Review of Lost in Translation

When I watched Lost in Translation I didn't expect the film to be a love story, I thought it would be something different. I haven't seen many love films because I don't like them very much, but when I saw Lost in Translation I decided that the film was good, that it was interesting and that it wasn't your typical love story, it has a little more of depth.

The story is about the relationship between the actor Bob Murray and Charlotte, the wife of a photographer. Both of them travel to Tokio for different reasons: Bob to film an advertisement and Charlotte because her husband has to take some photos in Tokio. The question is that both of the main characters are bored and that they don't enjoy life. They meet by chance because they are in the same hotel and they begin a great friendship which later evolves into something more...

As I said, one of the things of the film I like the most is that it has some depth, that both characters are well defined, although they don't have an extremely developed personality. Bob is a man in his forties and is having a midlife crisis: he is bored with his job, he isn't motivated to do things with his wife and he is lacking in romance. For her part, Charlotte has travelled to Tokio to accompany her husband, John, who is a photographer. However, Charlotte doesn't see a great future for their relationship because she thinks that John is more interested in celebrities than in her. Furthermore, her husband is always working and she is always alone in her bedroom. So then, the two characters have very similar personalities and are having bad times in Tokio.

For this reason, when they see for the first time they get along well at the moment. They start to talk about their lives and their sorrows and they soon make friends each other. They spent almost all their free time together and they have fun together. This friendship will eventually end in love (but this love is different because they love each other, but they know they can't be together, they accept it and they use this love as a way to find answers to their problems by talking to each other), and I think that this relationship will help them understand their situations and to find a solution for their crisis. Personally, I like the scene where Bob and Charlotte are in the bed resting for a bit and they realize that they are depressed beacuse they don't know what they really want in their life, they are lost in their lives, they are "lost in translation". I tink that this is true, because if you don't know what do you want, you will make decisions that aren't good for you an that will make you suffer every day of your life.

So then, I think that one of the messages of the film is that you have to live the life you want, you have to make the things that you really like to because if you don't do them you will be regretting it all your life and you will end being depressed.

On the other hand, the film also shows the difference between two ages: the age of Bob, more classical, and the age of Charlotte, more influenced by the new technologies and the changes of the new century. Furthermore, the film makes a contrast between Japanese and American cultures, and I think that the effect is very good because, unlike other films where Japanese people will talk in English, almost every Japanese talks in their mother language. This contrast makes that the two main characters were lost in a completely new world. I also think that this is a metaphor of the true meaning of the film, how the characters are lost in their lives, as I said before. 

Finally, I think that the actors chosen for the roles of Bob and Charlotte are very good and that they successfully give the public the sensation of their boredom and their depression. Personally, when I watched the film I felt like if I was feeling the same as them. But although I like the actors' job, I don't think that it is enough to nominate them for an Oscar. This is another thing that surprised me: how a love film that apparently looks simple has been as successful as to be nominated for 4 Oscars. Sincerely, I don't think that this film is that good, but it is true that Lost in Translation is original and that has a very good message.

To sum up, just saying that I like this film very much, especially for the message and because sometimes I feel  identified with the characters. But although I like the film, I don't that it is a masterpiece as many people say. However, it's true that the film is original, interesting and very enjoyable because it encourages the members of the audience to make the most of their lives and to never waste it.

Big Fish Review

I've heard a lot of things of this film. Some people say that the film is very good, almost a masterpiece. Others say that it is a strange film. Personally, I think that the two opinions are valid, because it is a Tim Burton's film, and when you see a film of this guy you expect to see a good but strange movie. However, Big Fish has a special characteristic: it is by far the less gothic and dark film of Burton. The fans of the director were disappointed with the film for this reason, but it is unfair to judge the film only because it means a great change in Tim Burton's filmography. Big Fish is a very special film and it has more than we can imagine in it.

The story of Big Fish describes the relationship between Edward Bloom and his son William. During Will's wedding, Edward tells the stoy about the birth of his son but with a lot of exaggerated things. This causes a breach between father and son and they don't speak during three years. One day, Will returns to his father's house because he is very ill. During the journey and the stay in the house, we can see that Will's father has always told him fantastic stories and that he wants to know the real life of his father, refusing to believe that these stories were true.

So Big Fish tells us two stories: the life of Edward Bloom and the desire of Will to search the true life of his father.  On the one hand, the stories that Edward tells are full of fantastic elements, such as witches, giants or werewolves. We can see that Edward, who had born in a small village, had very big ambitions and that he wanted to become a big fish, he wanted to pursue his dreams and, for this reason, he starts a journey. Edward passes throughout a lot of difficulties, but he never gives up and goes after his dreams. He also finds his true love and becomes a very important person.

On the other hand, William doesn't believe his father's stories. He wants to know his true life and he starts searching the truth. William is a person who loves his father, but who refuses to believe such fantastic stories. Searching the truth he comes to think that his father had an affair with other woman and that he had other family, but this wasn't true. Furthermore, the more he digs searching the truth, the less certain he becomes that all the stories were or not were true because the real and the imaginary seem to be indistinguishable from each other.

These two stories have very interesting meanings: we have to pursue our dreams no matter what happens. All the people have dreams and they have to go after them to find a meaning to their lives, to have something to wake up for. Edward was a man with many ambitions, many dreams, and he stops at nothing until he succeeds catching his dreams. Like I said, he confronts many difficulties. For example, he arrives at a village called Spectre which is perfect for everyone because the inhabitants are always happy and they live peacefully. Nonetheless, Edward leaves the village and continues his journey. Finally Edward achieves his goal: he becomes a big fish.

Other meaning of the film is that stories always have something of truth. William had grown up believing his father's tales, but when he becomes an adult he realizes, he wanted to believe that these stories were false. However, at the end of the film he finally believes his father, he understands what his father meant with all his tales: he was telling him his true life, how he had become a big fish, how he had achieved his goal, but he exaggerated the stories a bit. 

So all the stories of Edward were true but they were changed with fantastic elements. I think that Edward made this to continue living in the heart of his family and friends although he was dead; he wanted to become a legend. I've come to these conclusions after hearing the final phrase of the film: "A man tells so many stories, that he becomes the stories. They live on after him, and in that way he becomes immortal." I like this quote because it resumes one of the central topics of the film and it describes very well the character of Edward Bloom.

In Big Fish there are also other characters apart from Edward and William. For example, there is Karl the "giant", the witch who sees the death of Edward or Sandra Templeton, Edward's wife. There are more characters, and all of them are very good. Furthermore, all these characters become very good friends to Edward and when they appear in his funeral Will realizes that his father's stories were true.

Personally, I've liked this film very much, because it describes well the relationship between a son and his parents, especially during the son's childhood. In my case, when I was a child my father told me a lot of stories, and nowadays I know that they aren't true but that my father told them based on his life and it was a different form to tell me his life and the kind of man he is. Other thing that I'd like is the metaphor of the big fish that appears throughout the film (and that gives it its title) because it's a good way to show the personality of the main character, who is very ambitious. Finally, I also like the notion of pursuing our dreams no matter what, I've always done this and I'm going to continue this way until I have achieved my goals. This also demonstrates that life is like our own big adventure and that everyone has to live it according to his ambitions. For me, the best part of the film is, unquestionably, the end scene. It is very emotional that Williams tells his father the final chapter of the story of his life and that all the characters that his father had met appeared in it with the fantastic music of Danny Elfman in the background.

To sum up, I'm happy that there are films like this because they encourage us to have the life we like and to never give up our dreams. I think that Tim Burton has made a very good film, in my opinion it is his best movie, and that he matured as a director with this film. For this reason I encourage all the people to see the movie although it isn't the standard Tim Burton's film. The film becomes better when you see it for the second or the third time, although when you see it for the first time the first minutes can be a bit boring. However, I think that all Tim Burton's fans (and no fans) will enjoy this imaginative, moving and ambitious film, which demonstrates the power of dreams and the magic of stories.