I didn't get to see the film Billy Elliot at the film festival On Friday so I decided to rent it because I thought it semed to be a pretty movie. For some reason, I am always drawn to movies where the main character has a strong passion for something and/or has to overcome a struggle. Well this movie is about both these things.
Billy Elliot is about an 11-year-old boy living with his dad, older brother, and nanny during the UK miners' strike. Both Billy's father and brother are out on strike. One day, Billy's father takes him to the boxing gym but he doesn't really like the sport. Instead, he discovers the ballet class that is now a part of the boxing gym and secretly enrolls himself in the class because he is drawn in by the teacher, Mrs. Wilkinson. With her help, Billy develops a strong passion for dancing, but he keeps this from his father because he knows he won't understand. Eventually his father finds out and catches Billy in the ballet class and forbids him from going back but Billy secretly continues to dance, becoming better and better. Mrs. Wilkinson advises Billy to audition for the Royal Ballet School but he misses it due to his brother Tony getting arrested. When she goes to their house to tell them about the missed opportunity they become furios at the thought of Billy becoming a professional dancer, fearing that he would be seen as a "poof" or queer. It isn't until Billy's father finally sees him dance that he realizes his son's passion for it, and ends up taking him to a ballet audition himself. Billy is accepted into the Royal Ballet School and moves out of his home to attend. Fourteen years later, Billy accomplishes his dream and his father and brother come to watch him perform the lead in Swan Lake.
I really enjoyed this film and some parts of it also reminded me of the previous film I did an analysis on, which was Love and Basketball. In both movies, the main character had a strong passion (basketball and dance) but it was unaccepted by the parent. In Love and Basketball, Monica's old-fashioned mother wished she would stop playing the sport and be more feminine. in Billy Elliot, his father feared that Billy's passion for dance would cause him to be looked upon as a queer.
Because this film reminds me of Love and Basketball for particular reasons, I have decided to analyze Billy Elliot through pentadic crticism as well. Of course, Billy had a strong passion for dance and his dream was to become a professional dancer, which he did. But his struggle was getting his father to understand his passion. Thus, I have identified Billy as the agent. His act was dancing for his father and his purpose was to show him how passionate he was for dancing. The agency was using his skill to convince his father he was good enough to be a professional, and the scene was the boxing gym. During this scene, there was no dialogue. Instead there was highly intense music playing in the background which added a little bit of suspense to the scene because the audience didn't know if the outcome was going to be his dad accepting Billy or shunning him for dancing. I think the message the director wanted to convey to the audience is to follow your dreams. If you're good at something, do it to the best of your ability and don't let anyone hold you back from it.
