Billy Elliot

Billy Elliot is by far the most honestly told depiction of middle boyhood I've seen in years, if ever. I was in joyful tatters at the end of this story of a boy struggling to stay true to his calling in an anguished northern English mining town circa 1980. Every working class character in this film is written and uncompromisingly played with great love and understanding of both family and class hardship. Personally I view this film as the finest piece of British "intimiste" cinema I've seen since Mike Leigh's "Secrets and Lies". Yet it has epic elements as well. Billy's personal story unfolds while his home town is occupied by uniformed British strike control forces.

This is a tale of inter-masculine struggle in a family and mining town almost devoid of (and yearning for) a balancing feminine presence. Billy's gift is slowly awakened in this stressed and violent male crucible. His relationships with his brother, his father, his genderally confused classmate, and his teacher all grow increasingly charged as the movie develops. For honesty and presence, Jamie Bell as Billy far surpasses Haley Joel Osment's debut in The Sixth Sense. And if that's not enough, Julie Walters, Gary Lewis and Jamie Draven as Billy's teacher, dad and brother are all heartbreakingly portrayed. All are perfectly cast and at the very top of their form.

After all these characters have passed through the warzone of the first and second acts, director Steven Daldry delivers perhaps the most perfectly executed third act I have seen in a family centered drama from England or elsewhere. There are countless insightful decisions Daldry makes in the course of this film that other directors will study for years to come. But they're all brought to touching and masterful closure in the third act segments.

Kudos to scenarist Lee Hall for an excellent script. It should also be noted that many of DP Brian Tufano's beautifully composed shots match those of the great Chinese and Italian cinematographers. The film is brash in its musical style and forthright in its language. It is a film of specifics and the locale is not dressed up. And unlike many other local color films from England since 1985, this film has a strong, eminently compassionate narrative spine. Many audience members in the show I attended were immobilized and overcome in their seats during credits.

Despite frequent profanity, boys 11 and up should be allowed to see Billy Elliot, if only to keep them from abandoning hope. If it helps even one oppressed and confused boy keep an ear to the faint voice within that might just be his true calling, this film will have been worth every dollar spent in its making. A truly uplifting film.

Billy Elliot is a truly inspirational movie. It reminds us of the human potential to transcend our economic surroundings and the expectations of society by doing something so simple, and yet sometimes so very difficult, as simply being ourselves.

Born in a socially and economically repressed mining town, Billy is told that boys box or wrestle; boys don't dance. But Billy loves to dance and does so every chance that he gets.

Does a love of ballet make you gay? Does it matter if your best friend is a crossdresser? How far will a father go when he realizes the truth about his son? This is a movie of change, growth and emotion, with characters and actors so real and fully developed that they pull your heart forth and place it firmly upon the screen. We literally feel the brittleness of judgement, the despair of lost hope, and the joy of acceptance.

It is easy to see why this small British film has won so many foreign awards and nominations, and I only hope it will be given the chance it deserves to inspire and transform US audiences as well.

After revisiting this film again recently, I stick my chest out and state proudly that the film touches me on so many levels that my emotions go all over the shop. For a film that is in essence a feel good coming of age drama it is mightily impressive that the film never veers down that street known as sickly boulevard.

Set against the grim backdrop of the English Coal Miners strikes the film tackles an array of subjects, class struggles, fear of homosexuality, youthful adventure in discovering potential adulthood, and the universal joy that music and dance can bring to us all, even in the most trying of circumstances. So many great scenes here that are both happy and sad, Billy's father feels he has to break the strike to give Billy a chance in life, this leads to a truly heartbreaking scene between him and his eldest son, I weep unashamedly at the realism of it all, the dancing is just wonderful, with too many great scenes to only pick just one out, the film is a seamless classic that ticks every box that I personally require from a film like this.

The cast are magnificent, Jamie Bell perfectly layers the lead role of Billy by fusing confusion, joy, fear, hope, and sorrow into one almighty performance. Julie Walters is up to her usual standard of greatness, whilst Gary Lewis as the father is nothing short of tremendous, they all can take a bow for making such a wonderful movie. The soundtrack is music gold, you can never have enough T-Rex in your life, ever, and I ask if there has ever been a more appropriate use of music than the use of The Jam's-Town Called Malice? Paul Weller's up tempo beat belies it's sombre lyrics, the song is about a town besieged by unemployment, a great scene accompanies the song as Billy dances out his frustrations down the street; "you either cut down on the beer or the kids new gear, it's a big decision in a town called Malice".

Brilliant! Maybe I'm biased because I remember the miners strikes, a sad and desperate time for the industry that was about to go under, perhaps I love it for the sheer sympathy the characters garner, or could it just be that it's an incredibly human story that is laid out fantastically well with an ending that demands a positive response from the viewer? Either way it rates 10/10 for me and it always will.

This movie is such a good film for a number of reasons. As a study of daring to be different in the fact of intractable tradition, Billy Elliot is beautiful, touching, poignant and very honest. It does start off slowly, but the film does have a lot of heart. Firstly, I liked the story, a young boy who wishes to ballet dance against the the backdrop of the 1984 miner's strike, it was a nice one and is likely to evoke some emotion. Stage director Stephen Daldry makes his feature debut here, and succeeds pretty much brilliantly. Another strong asset was the writing, while funny in places, it is also quite touching. Then the music, I loved hearing the music Tchaikovsky's timeless ballet "Swan Lake", such a melancholy yet enchanting and haunting score. But really the best asset of the film is the acting. Jamie Bell gives a really believable performance in the lead role, while Gary Lewis is marvellous as his dad. The acting honours though go to the brilliant Julie Walters as Billy's chain smoking dance instructor, that role especially proves what a fine actress Walters is. In conclusion, I loved this film. 9.5/10 Bethany Cox

This is one of those really great dramas that only come around maybe once a year. This is my pick for the best drama of 2000. Filled with amazing characters, a great plot, and circumstances that seem too real, the wonderfully underplayed value of it takes precedence over anything set against it.

There are some great performances here, so let's get to ‘em.

Jamie Bell plays the lead role, in an astonishing performance. Amazing dance routines done in perfect sync, I can just imagine the time he had memorizing all the steps. A knockout performance, with some of the most dramatic scenes played out with perfect honesty and realism.

Another notable performance comes from Julie Walters, who plays Mrs. Wilkinson, the dance instructor in the mining town where Billy lives. Once a great dancer but now forced to work in the bottom floor of a boxing hall, she plays her part wonderfully, showing the lack of compassion and jadedness without words but only through expressions, deep hurt lying beneath all that scorn, but love shining through as she sees Billy's true talent.

Finally, performance wise, we have Gary Lewis, who plays Billy's father. With wonderful scenes that play themselves out with harsh reality, I never tire of seeing the hurt in his eyes when he sees that his little boy isn't going to be a boxer or a football player, but a dancer, then seeing him again with the love and appreciation for his dancing son. Some things must be experienced, and the deep hurt he carries about the death of his wife is one of those. Greatness all around.

The one problem I did have with this movie is that it is first of all rated R. Why?! If it weren't for the few (and very effective) uses of the 'F' word, it would've gotten a PG-13 rating. It so strongly needs the 'F' word, yet it needs to be seen by a PG-13 audience! This is a move that truly should be shown to middle schoolers all over the country, showing that you should believe in yourself and no one else. Follow your dreams. Not only is this message not shoved down your throat (as some other movies shamelessly do), but it is done in such a way that you truly believe it. You want good things to happen, and you get that, but not spotless and clean. Nothing is done easily, and there will always be someone who will try and stop your dreams from coming true.

Another (and the only other problem) are the accents. The British definitely have a style of speaking all their own, and it sometimes took a moment for all the dialogue to register. Sometimes I'd miss half a scene, trying to decipher out exactly what was said. However, the tones and emotions of most scenes were enough to let you know what was said. Everything didn't have to be spelt out, but I can imagine that after I get this DVD I will sit down with the captions on, just to know I didn't miss anything. This is one of the only complaints I have for another favorite of mine, Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels.

Billy Elliot is a true rag-to-riches story that unfolds amazingly well without pulling your heartstrings shamelessly as other movies love to do. I recommend this to all, expect to be entertained with great plot twists as well as interesting characters, wonderful dialogue, and a story that can never grow old: Follow your dreams.