Have you seen the videos on You Tube of flash mobs that break out into spontaneous song and dance? These videos fill me with a kind of joy and exuberance that is hard to express. The same goes for the film Billy Elliot.
Through dance, particularly ballet, a young boy Billy Elliot (Jamie Bell) in working class Northern England finds away to express himself that his a joy to behold. Unfortunately his father Jackie (Gary Lewis) and brother Tony (Jamie Draven) both miners, don't think ballet is the proper way for a boy to behave. People might think he was a "poof"
The film is set in the mid 1980's against the miner's strike that was ripping England in two. Billy lives with his dad, brother and Grandma (Jean Heywood). His mom has been deceased for some time. Both Billy's dad and brother are very angry. their anger is directed at the police guarding the miners who cross the picket lines, but they are really angry at the world for things they can barely express.
One day while at boxing lessons that Billy's dad insist he take, Billy sees a group of girls practicing ballet. After boxing he joins them and learns he has a natural talent from the instructor Georgia Wilkinson (Julie Walters). When his dad finds out he has been skipping boxing and sneaking off to ballet lessons he forbids Billy from going again. Billy disobeys him and takes private lessons with Mrs. Wilkinson with the hopes of audition with the Royal School of Ballet in London.
Because of events at the strike Billy misses the audition which leads to a final confrontation between Mrs. Wilkinson and Jackie and Tony. Billy's hopes of going away to school are crushed, visualized by the smashing of his mom's piano to be used for firewood on Christmas. Then his dad sees him dance and realizes he has been blinded by fear, anger and grief to all that his young son can be. Now Jackie is determined to do whatever he can for Billy, even if it means crossing the picket lines and becoming a hated scab
I saw Billy Elliot in the theatres in 2000, so knowing the story I focused more on the acting and the dance this time around. Jamie Bell, in his first acting role as Billy is a natural. There is excellent chemistry between Bell and Lewis so they really feel like father and son. The dancing is exciting, graceful, energetic and dramatic. The one glaring note I did notice this time around was the obtrusive rock music on the soundtrack. There are only so many times the song Children of the Revolution can be used for dramatic emphasis.
While the coming of age story is nothing new, the energetic effort put into all aspects of the film make Billy Elliot irresistible.
At the Movie House rating ***1/2 stars.
Note - Billy Elliot is another British family film that arrived in America with a "R" rating because of the use of language. During some heated exchanges the father and older brother use the F-word. The MPAA feels is a word that will offend the delicate sensibilities of the average American 13 year old ( who probably use the word 20 times a day). This film, like The King's Speech, deserved a PG-13 rating. It's amazing that horrific acts of violence and overt sexuality of characters can be approved by the ratings board but language is out of bounds.
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