Movies

A combo of a personal triumph and a look at a historical event, "Billy Elliot" is a triumph for all involved. During the 1984-85 miners' strike in England, the Elliot family is falling apart. Son Billy (Jamie Bell) manages to find a way out: he takes up dancing. Granted, his family is rather shocked at this, but the newfound talent helps Billy through life.Every part of this movie was perfectly done; I can't possibly stress it sufficiently. A particularly moving scene shows Billy's father scabbing on the other workers. Another of the many great movies to come from England.

Brisk and sprightly movie about a little boy growing up in a working-class English village who wants to train for ballet, much to the displeasure of his dad.Jamie Bell gives a tremendous performance as Billy, an angry youngster who doesn't understand why he should be ashamed of something he loves, particularly since that something gives him a means of expression for his juvenile frustration and anger. The other standout is Julie Walters, spectacular as Billy's firecracker of a dance instructor. A scene in which she and Billy dance together, giving wild vent to their love of the art form, is the film's highlight.Grade: A

It's absolutely undeniable that Jamie Bell has greatly acted and delivered a very charismatic performance, evoking laughters and tears at the same time; Billy Elliot works his way up to success after giving through the hardest times and situations a child could live in. Compared to other pictures shot in the Eighties and showing English plights of those years, this melodrama is better conceived and more engrossing for the way it tells of family life and dreams coming true. With everything considered it's genuinely intense and soulful, narrating emotions, changes and above all a story of struggle: struggle with losses of life, with biases, with public authorities and with sexuality.