"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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