Billy Elliot [2000]
Director: Stephen Daldry
Actor: Jamie Bell, Julie Walters, Gary Lewis, Jamie Draven
What a great film this is. So unconventional and refreshing. Billy is an eleven year old boy living in North England during the time where Margret Thatcher closes one coal-mine after the other, and money is tight. Billy lives with his father, older brother, and grandmother, and his mother has only recently passed away. Both Billy’s father and brother work at the local coal-mine, and have gone on strike in order to get better wages. Billy’s brother is one of the leaders of the strike, and dilligently stands at the gate to the mine hurling insults and threats to those who cross the picket line. Meanwhile, Billy goes to school and looks after his demented grandmother in the afternoon. On saturday he gets some money and his father’s boxing gloves and is sent off to boxing lessons. He’s not very good at it, and doesn’t enjoy it one bit, and slowly but surely his interest starts to deviate to the ballet-class that is being given in the same gym. He starts to go to ballet instead of boxing, hoping that nobody will find out, and turns out to be an amazingly talented dancer. His teacher, a middle-aged woman with problems of her own, decides to take Billy under her wing and teach him all she can, until she reaches a point where she believes Billy should attend the Royal Ballet School in London. She has to not only convince Billy that he can do it, but also his father and brother, who, at first, want to hear nothing about it, but slowly warm to the idea.
Incredible acting, great story, and a cast of gripping personalities. I highly recommend this film, even if you don’t normally like films like this.