Billy Elliot, a young boy living in a coal mining town in England, becomes enamored with ballet instead of boxing and pursues his dreams despite strikes and conflict. The story of Billy Elliot, who pursues his passion despite his father’s disapproval, is a deeply moving portrait of what it means to grow up in a world of social and artistic contrasts.
In 1984, a boy named Billy Elliot lives in a coal mining town in Durham, England, with his father, a miner, his older brother, Tony Elliot, and his grandmother, who has dementia. The miners are on strike, and Billy Elliot is forced to learn boxing, a sport he has no interest in. Michael Caffrey is Billy Elliot’s best friend, and he has a tendency to be effeminate, stealing his mother’s and sister’s clothes. One day, Billy Elliot sees a ballet class taught by Ms. Sandra Wilkinson next to the boxing class and falls in love with it.
In 1984, the unstable Prime Minister of England, Margaret Thatcher, announced that she would close 20 of the country’s 174 coal mines and lay off more than 20,000 workers. In the midst of this unstable and violent strike movement, a young boy performs ballet in a town that is the subject of the film. The use of ballet, an elite art form, as the main subject during this turbulent time of strikes is key to the film. By using such a contradictory subject and setting, the film is able to create a story that is moving and fits the theme of coming of age. An example of this is near the end of the movie, when Billy Elliot goes to London to study ballet, contrasted with the scene where his father and brother return to the coal mine.
When Billy Elliot first started ballet, his father didn’t understand it at all and was against it. However, his father later realized Billy Elliot’s talent. His father realizes that even Billy Elliot has to make a living as a miner, and decides to give him the opportunity to pursue ballet. The scene where the father gives up the strike for his son and returns to the mine alone is very moving. When Tony Elliot is discovered to be dancing ballet and his father tells him that he “can’t give him a future like ours,” it’s a stark reminder of their miserable reality. Billy Elliot secretly practicing for his Royal Ballet School audition with teacher Sandra Wilkinson in a boxing ring is beautiful even in a ramshackle boxing ring. Ballet in a coal mining town may seem like an unrealistic story, but it is a story of a boy’s growth through his dreams that is both realistic and fantastical.
It may seem like a simple coming-of-age movie about a boy from a coal mining town who grows up to be a ballerina. However, there is much more to it than that. The setting of the movie depicts the social unrest in Britain at the time, including the coal miners’ union movement and unemployment, and the film seamlessly incorporates this period into the main theme of ballet. By setting the town as a coal mining village and setting the main character’s father and brother’s occupation as miners, the surroundings of ‘Billy Elliot’ were naturally formed.
Ballet and coal mines, the beautiful, white ballet dancers and the grimy miners, are contrasted in the film, but in this movie, the contrast adds to the sadness. The miners’ sacrifices were necessary for Billy Elliot’s dream to come true. Billy Elliot, who cannot dance ballet due to his father’s opposition, runs and dances in a narrow alley. In that desolate and narrow alley, Billy Elliot releases his anger through dancing. In addition, by introducing strongly masculine images such as miners and boxing, it has the effect of further emphasizing the feminine image of ballet. By setting the main character as a boy, the film breaks down the existing image of ballet and creates a new image. Billy Elliot’s friend Michael Caffrey dresses as a woman, wears makeup, and even asks Billy Elliot to get him a ballet skirt. ‘Michael Caffrey’ offers Billy Elliot a drink on a cold winter’s day, warms Billy Elliot’s frozen hands in his arms, kisses him, and shows his love for him.
As such, the movie may be a coming-of-age story set in a difficult British society, but it is also a unique coming-of-age story that breaks down the image of male and female. In addition, the lightheartedness and excitement of dance enlivens the otherwise dark setting of the movie.
In the 1997 movie “The Full Monty,” a group of heads of households who lost their jobs overnight due to downsizing are forced to perform striptease to earn money. This movie also depicts a group of unemployed people who come together to perform striptease, a job that is outside of their moral compass. Similarly, the movie Billy Elliot shows the growth of the main character through ballet.
The most important element of this movie is the main character, Billy Elliot. Billy Elliot secretly listens to his brother’s records, loves dancing, and is forced by his father to learn boxing. He cares for his grandmother with dementia and misses his mom, but he’s a determined boy who lives life to the fullest.
“Billy Elliot” is not weak at all. He says what he has to say and expresses his emotions honestly. He hides his ballet shoes under his bed because he’s afraid of his father and chooses to learn ballet instead of boxing, but when his father catches him, he speaks his mind. The scene in which she listens to her mother’s nagging while drinking milk shows how tenderly Billy Elliot misses her. At his audition for the Royal Ballet School, when the judge asks him how he feels when he dances, Billy Elliot replies, “It’s like I’ve been electrocuted, I’ve lost myself, I’ve become a bird.” Billy Elliot knows what he likes, and he’s honest about it. This boyish, innocent charm of Billy Elliot’s character is very evident in the movie. It’s this setting that makes Billy Elliot a coming-of-age movie.
