27 April 2008
"Billy Elliot", Modern day Ugly Duckling?
02/05/08 06:25 Name of Film: Billy
Elliot
Billy
Elliot, written
by Lee Hall and directed by Stephen Daldry, is a
modern day version of the fairy tale “The Ugly
Duckling,” In this film, growing up in a small
town in northeast England, the ugly duckling is
an eleven-year old son of a poor coal miner. It
is a time of struggle and violence because of a
bitter labor strike. Billy lives in a tiny
apartment with his father and grandmother, and he
shares a room with his older brother. Early in
the movie, Billy (Jamie Bell) is seen taking a
pounding in a boxing class. When he stands up
still dazed, he notices Mrs. Wilkinson’s (Julie
Walters) ballet class, which is being held in the
same place. Billy is invited to join the class,
and Mrs. Wilkinson discovers that he has an
incredible gift of movement and dance. Billy’s
father (Gary Lewis) confronts him about the
ballet class because he feels that ballet is only
for girls “poofers” (gays), so he forbids him
from ever going again. Billy continues to train
in secret while the film develops an interesting
comparison between him and his best friend
Michael (Stuart Wells), who is also struggling
with his identity. When Billy’s father catches
him dancing with Michael dressed in a tutu, we,
the audience, believe that it is all over.
However, Billy finds the courage to dance for his
father to show him the tremendous gift that Mrs.
Wilkinson had recognized. Both the family and the
community rally around the boy to raise enough
money for an audition at the Royal Ballet School.
The film ends years later in a London theater,
where Billy Elliot, now famous and no longer the
Ugly Duckling, leaps onto the stage. He is
transformed into a beautiful swan performing for
his father, brother and Michael, who is escorted
by his gay lover. The transition is now completed
for them all.
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