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.
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.
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.
