Billy Elliot 

Next Film

Cinema Index

Stephen Daldry, 2000 (111 mins, Cert.  15)

THE British film of 2000, Billy Elliott is the story of a young boy's secret desire to dance against the backdrop of northern life in 1984 during miners strike.  Achingly funny, this [is?] a film to set the heart soaring and the feet moving!
(Playhouse Publicity)

This film powerfully evokes the mood of the times during the miners' strike and is as much about the devastating impact of the strike on the communities involved as it is about the incongruity of a male ballet dancer emerging from that background.  An hommage to the strengths and values of community and the power of the determination that derives from deep conviction, the film is driven along at a good pace by a pounding rock soundtrack that majors on T.Rex. The main characters are movingly portrayed and illuminated by flashes of humour but the political events in which they are emeshed loom ominously over everything that happens.  The final scene in which the ugly duckling Billy is finally revealed as a glorious swan underscores the hope that even in the worst of times the potential of individuals can sometimes triumph.  A masterly piece of work.
(Steve Fagg)

Seen: Tuesday, 27th March, 2001 (Harlow Playhouse)