Billy Elliot [2000]

Daldry's film sidesteps some of the politics, both sexual and otherwise, but scores with its laconic dialogue (credit to screenwriter Lee Hall) and a cracking performance from newcomer Jamie Bell as Billy. His powerhouse dance routines, more Gene Kelly than Nureyev, carry an irresistible sense of exhilaration and self-discovery. Among a flawless supporting cast Stuart Wells stands out as Billy's sweet gay friend Michael. And if the miners' strike serves largely as background colour, there's one brief episode, as visored and truncheoned cops rampage through neat little terraced houses, that captures one of the most spiteful episodes in recent British history. --Philip Kemp

Set in the north east of England during the British miners strike of 1984-5 Director Stephen Daldry perfectly captures the darkest period of British social history and the poverty suffering and devastation that it brought to so many communities in this extremely heartwarming and uplifting movie. The miners strike was the period in Britain's history when Margaret Thatcher literally starved the coal miners, who were striking to save their jobs, back to work. It literally turned neighbours against one another, brought enormous economic hardship to families and destroyed communities. And when it was all over they closed all the pits anyway and all hope was stolen from the working classes, perhaps never to be restored again.

Billy Elliot is a very good movie but I have one objection with it and all the other 'gritty' British movies and that is the way the working classes are always portrayed. On the basis of Brassed Off, The Full Monty, Little Voice etc., Americans must really pity us poor British in our squalid terraced council houses and working men's clubs, cigarette permanently in one hand, beer permanently in the other, with our conversations littered with obscenities, even when speaking to kids. The reality is somewhat different and it worries me that a stereotype may begin to develop here. I, and all of my friends come from a working class background and many of the people I knew at school had fathers working in the mines. However, none of them came from a family where obscenities, cigarettes and alcohol were the norm. Certainly there is an element of society that lives like that but from my experience they tend to be the never worked, never want to work lowest of the low, who would never fight to keep a job or bring up a family. (Excuse me whilst I get off my soap box)!

Ultimately however, this is a film with a lot of charm, a lot of humour, a lot of heart and great acting performances all round (but particularly from Gary Lewis, Julie Walters and the excellent newcomer Jamie Bell as the title character). The movie is full of fine moments including Billy and his teacher performing a powerhouse dance routine to I Love to Boogie by T Rex, or when Mrs Wilkinson's daughter Debbie idly bangs a stick along the row of policemen's perspex riot shields, whilst sauntering down the street and Billy's dance of rage when his father forbids him from dancing again.

Stephen Daldry's direction and the screenplay by Lee Hall are both excellent and it is to their credit that they deal with the question of Billy's nascent sexuality, avoiding vulgarity and judgement. Billy Elliot is not a stereotypical male ballet dancer but the question of his sexuality is left open to question and to their credit the filmmakers have avoided the obvious temptation to reassure the audience that the young boy is straight, because it is irrelevant to the triumph against the odds story. Slightly confusing however, is the use of T rex throughout the soundtrack and other obvious references to the seventies, such as the sight of a Spacehopper and the game Ker-Plunk. 1984/5 was more the time of Wham, Frankie Goes To Hollywood and Duran Duran and the Spacehopper and fallen from fashion some ten years earlier (although now making a return apparently). However, any criticisms are mere details for Billy Elliot is that annual rarity, a really good British movie, that both inspires and entertains in equal volumes. Highly recommended!


My favourite film   December 26, 2004
11 out of 13 found this review helpful

I saw Billy Elliot for the first time when I was quite young, and didn't understand the numerous complex issues involved in the story. When I saw it again several years later, I was moved to tears by several of the scenes, and found it one of the most sensitive, witty, blunt and beautiful films I have ever seen. It encounters problems that were very relevant at the time it is set, and deals with them completely adequately and with a touch of humour to soften the blow of some of the more heart-rending scenes- not that these are often very obvious, but will choke you up all the same. The acting is second to none, and it tugs at your heart strings at the same time as delivering some hilarious one-liners along the way. Also the best soundtrack in a very, very long time.


I don't like ballet, I'm not into gritty northern coalmining stories, but I really enjoyed this   June 13, 2007
Petrolhead (Hong Kong)
11 out of 13 found this review helpful

Why is it that British film directors seem so obsessed with going "oop narth" for their films? Is it because they think "gritty realism" will counteract Hollywood's schmalz? Because they like to portray a salt of the earth type living amidst the northern hardship and grime? Or because they feel a sense of loyalty to the coal miners who all got laid off during the 1980s? After all, when did you last see a film set in Wales? or Cornwall? or Norfolk?
Anyway, rant over. After all my misgivings, this is a nice film! It's not perfect, but definitely very nice. Jamie Bell is brilliant and sparks charmingly with Julie Chainsmoking-northern lady. It's touching and funny and cheeky as an 11-year-old. I was pleasantly surprised. After all, it wasn't just the northern thing, but the whole ballet thing had put me off: it just seemed so contrived and arty-farty. But in fact, you don't have to like or understand ballet to enjoy the film. My misgivings were misplaced. I recommend seeing it.
(But I wouldn't blame you if you can't stand the thought of it!)


It'll have you laughing and crying - must see more that once   March 18, 2001
8 out of 9 found this review helpful

Billy Elliot can be seen as a film on the same lines as "Four Weddings and A Funeral" or "Notting Hill" because it is a British based and allows you to be attracted to themes bringing you closer to home.

Luckily though, this film goes beyond those levels and into ones which are only reached by the best of the best. The acting is fantastic and Jamie Bell deserves all the credit he is getting for his superb performance.

The storyline has two themes, the famous boxer come ballerina one and the picket-mining aspect which help you follow the whole family in their personal and financial problems whilst raising Billy. Billy wants to be a ballerina but his Dad and brother refuse the idea as they have been brought up with boxing and coal mining. Billy is helped through in an emotional but hilarious story, by his dance teacher played brilliantly by Julie Walters.

This is a must-see film and go more then once so you can digest all sides of the story and for two hours watch a little boy become a star.


FROM BOXING TO BALLET...   December 1, 2002
Lawyeraau (Balmoral Castle)
8 out of 9 found this review helpful

This is a heartwarming film, made all the more delightful by the wonderful, breakout performance of newcomer, Jamie Bell, in the leading role of Billy Elliot. The son and brother of coalminers, Billy is given boxing lessons by his father but is drawn, instead, to learning ballet. So, he surreptitiously takes ballet lessons. When his father finds out, all hell breaks loose, as in the macho world of his coal miner father and brother, this is tantamount to a sign that Billy is gay.

Billy's teacher, however, thinks Billy has talent and attempts to persuade the father to permit Billy to audition for the Royal Ballet School. At first, the father refuses. He is ultimately won over, however, when Billy gives him a private dance performance so passionate that even he is moved. So, Billy then goes off to London for the audition. What happens next is sure to move even the most stone hearted viewer.

This is ultimately a film about hope and the ability to realize one's dreams. Well acted, it is a film that is sure to delight the viewer. The only real flaw in the film is the sound quality, which tends to be somewhat uneven. All in all, however, this is an excellent film and well worth watching, if only for Billy Elliot's dance scenes.