billy elliot final scene analysis
Menu. What do you think of this behavior? What was it? At the time in which this film is set, the British coal industry was owned by the government. The more time spent with a character, the more opportunity to witness his choices. Consider when Billys piano is being destroyed the connotations regarding his musical identity are clear, as he feels a certain part of him is being destroyed. 6.
While still a child, Mower then played the role of Billy Elliot in the London production of the stage musical adaptation of Billy Elliot. Billy's mother was apparently supportive of Billy's artistic interests, but his father, who has serious matters to worry about, cannot bring himself to support his son. Soon enough Billy is wearing ballet slippers, practicing with the others. GET 100% OFF A STORY GRID BOOK OF YOUR CHOICE. Billy and the world that he is expected to be a part of. Mrs. Wilkinson believes Billy is talented enough to study at the Royal Ballet School in London, but due to Tonys arrest during a skirmish between police and striking miners, Billy misses the audition. This is why its so important to check in with the writer to see what her/his intention is for the story. This movie is on TWMs list of the ten best movies to supplement classes in Health, High School Level. Why was it so difficult for Billys father to cross the picket line? Many, if not most, coal mines were losing proposition. Billy Elliot discovers his passion for dance and joins a class, but when his father finds out, he must decide whether to be true to himself or follow his father. What are the similarities between dancers and athletes who play football, baseball, basketball or tennis? Drawing parallels between Billy and the swan may be a useful way to explore how Daldry draws on the archetypal story and recontextualises it to connect with modern audiences. The government argued that widespread mine closings were the only way to make the industry economically rational. The differences are that for dancers the result is art, and for other athletes, the result is doing well in competitions. What would have happened to Billy and what kind of life would he have led, if it had not been for his teacher, Mrs. Wilkinson? However, Billy doesn't much like it and isn't very good at it, instead more interested in the movement put to music in the form of the girls' ballet class held on the other side of the gym by chain-smoking Mrs. Wilkinson (Dame Julie Walters). However, with the change in setting, the contrast between the clean, spacious dance spaces and Billys cramped, grubby bathroom reinforces the constant tensions of socioeconomic class that surround him. One of the great qualms of the entire movie was whether Mrs. Wilkinson should be in the final scene, when Billy performs Swan Lake. The use of montage and juxtaposition also demonstrates the various oxymorons that exist in Billys life, and the paradoxes of his experiences. In keeping with the subjective experience of the film, Daldry sometimes exaggerates spaces through light such as when Billy arrives to the gym for his first one-on-one lesson with Mrs Wilkinson. because Billy doesnt seem to be without meaning in the beginning. The scene shifts and we see Fred Astaire dancing in a movie for a moment. The question of what is an intolerable level is different in every society. They both involve expressions of identity and being through physical bodies, and as such they are both tied up in the complex politics and history of gender and behavioural norms. The 80s are widely recognised as a controversial and important period of British (and global) history. She can see that Billy not only has natural talent, but passion, unlike most of the girls in the class, so much so that she believes he may have a real shot at making it into the Royal Ballet School. In the beginning of the story it seems Billy is searching for meaning, and by the end, hes found his passion and is pursuing it wholeheartedly. It ran until April 2016 and was nominated for 9 Olivier Awards, winning the award for Best New Musical. In addition, sometimes kids just dont have the best parents. Do you have friends that are very different from you in some ways? The film focuses on Billy Elliot, a 12 year old boy who is pressured and abused by his violent family as he tries to pursue his love of dancing in a predominantly miners town where ballet is for girls. This clearly is the far more difficult way to tell story. This time however he fights back, eventually running free from the compound. Jackie attempts to cross the picket line to pay for the trip to London, but Tony stops him. In 1984, Billy Elliot, an 11-year-old from the fictional Everington in County Durham, England, loves to dance and has hopes of becoming a professional ballet dancer. The power divide between the antagonist and protagonist is wide and deep: The antagonist is Billys father and he is without a doubt the patriarch of the family. Britains Royal Ballet School was founded in 1926 by Dame Ninette De Valois. WebRemember that Billy Elliot is a film. WebThe musical version of this movie, which hit the West End in 2005 to rave reviews and numerous awards and nominations, reportedly cost 5.5 million to make: around 3 million more than the movie version. , a 2000 film written by Lee Hall, directed by Stephen Daldry, and produced by Greg Brenman and Jon Finn. Billy Elliot Wikimedia Foundation, accessed October 23, 2017, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Billy_Elliot. Describe some situations that you have heard about in your own life in which people have broken out of the expectations that their parents, family, and community had of them and have done something unexpected with their lives. '", Partly inspired by Royal Ballet dancer Philip Marsden, whom screenwriter. from other boys of the same age. The final scene, which takes place fifteen years later or so, serves almost as an. In this film, a friendship between two boys survives the fact that one is homosexual and the other probably is not. 11. The easy way is to hopscotch through time and space, picking up bits and pieces to facilitate exposition, but this makes story sprawl and lose tension. Billys grandmother has a tendency to wander off and cannot take care of herself. Over Christmas, Billy learns his best friend, Michael, is gay. ), Assignments, Projects, and Activities for Use With any Film that is a Work of Fiction. Video unavailable Watch on YouTube Watch on In our lesson, we had two tasks regarding this scene, and you could In a field he finds his grandmother, clearly confused, wandering around. As his father comes into the room, he jumps on top of the shoes to cover them and pretends to be looking for his boxing gloves. You can find the Foolscap Global Story Grid, Fourteen years later in 1998, Billy takes the stage to perform the Swan in. He gets knocked down soon enough, as his father watches from nearby. The screen enlarges again which makes Billy seem and look much smaller. Crises such as the Falklands war a brief but intense conflict between Britain and Argentina over British islands allowed the British government to use a crisis mandate to impose strict and fundamental changes to the economic fabric of society. Billys father doesnt approve of boys taking ballet, while Billy finds that he would rather dance than do anything else. ; Always do your best; Use self-control; Be self-disciplined; Think before you act consider the consequences; Be accountable for your choices). 6. House Manager at Imagination Stage Producer Jon Finn had a deep connection to the story as all the family on his mothers side worked in the pits in the area where the film was shot. It left me with a sense of indignation which has fuelled much of my work.. They may have positive or negative implications. However, Jackie, Tony, and their fellow miners are currently in a bitter labor dispute, with the mine still operating with scab labor, which is prolonging the strike, since the company has no reason to give in to the wage demands. The character of Billy Elliot was able to set boundaries to his relationship with Michael that permitted them to be friends but stopped at any sexual relationship between them. BILLY ELLIOT FINAL SCENE LaDance McFever 2K subscribers Subscribe 26K 4M views 9 years ago The dramatic final scene of Billy Elliott, as a grown man, dancing Yes to both questions. Billy Elliot Wikimedia Foundation, accessed October 23, 2017, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Billy_Elliot, , where the global value at stake runs from, . This is the last scene in the movie Billy Elliot. Billys father and older brother Tony curse continually. Which was the son ignoring? Many of the local Easington extras were repeating the way they behaved when the pits were actually on strike. Describe any experiences you or people you know may have had in breaking out of the traditional roles that their family or society had set out for them and charting a new course based on their own interests and goals. But even in more intimate spaces such as in Debbies room, where Billy experiences a moment of sexual awakening the set design employs floral wallpaper and pillow covers to express these sexual overtones. He was the first member of his family to leave home and go to college. Did the striking miners treat the police with respect? Was it right for Billy to be given responsibility for caring for his grandmother? For Boys: If you wanted to be a ballet dancer, how do you think your schoolmates would react? In the middle of a lesson, Billy doesn't know what to do with his arms, and Sandra insists that he should do what the others are doing. Crazy Credits Your first week of Year 11: whats on stake, what to take, smash this piece of cake. You may notice in the Foolscap that the shift in values for the five commandments within the Beginning Hook, Middle Build, and Ending Payoff often change in the same way whether looking at the internal or external story (which isnt the case in many stories). It demonstrates the redemptive agency of love in a family under enormous stress and shows a father coming through as a parent after some egregious errors. Behind Billy, we see Grandmother walking in an overgrown field. Magical world introlate in storyis visually arresting and emphasizes the difference between Billy and Jackies ordinary world and the new world Billy is going to be entering (the interior of the Royal Ballet School). Many of their towns were economically dependent on the coal industry and the government wanted to shut the mines down. WebBilly Elliot is a film set in an English town of Everington, England during the 1985 mining strikes. The result is a tight, smooth, memorable character and story. As he enters the gym, Billy sees that while one end of the gym is being used for boxing, the other is now being used for ballet lessons. Billy Elliot is Stephen Daldrys 2000 film about a boy becoming a ballet dancer, and gained acclaim for its promotion of individual identity, its challenge to restrictive gender norms and its celebration of artistic pursuits. The study of classical ballet is physically rigorous, tantamount to engaging in the most grueling sports activities. In other words, the parent was wrong in such a fundamental way that the childs disobedience was justified.
Over two thousand boys auditioned for the role of Billy Elliot. With a text as unique, wide-ranging and socially conscious as Billy Elliot, making arguments about the role of art, authority, sexuality, freedom and adolescence in human experiences should be relatively straightforward, provided you pay close attention to what the films messages are and how they are delivered. When introduced to Debbies father, we learn that he is a staunch conservative who despises the miners and any left-leaning political ideology. 
Fourteen years later in 1998, Billy takes the stage to perform the Swan in Matthew Bournes Swan Lake, as Jackie, Tony, and Michael watch from the audience. Billy lives with his widowed father, Jackie, and older brother, Tony, both coal miners out on strike (the latter being the union bully), and also his maternal grandmother, who has Alzheimers disease and once aspired to be a professional dancer. Other forms of authority were being challenged at the time as well, including the authority of social norms and roles. Enter your email below for a free Story Grid course! 4. Why was Mrs. Wilkinson especially interested in teaching ballet to Billy? GradeSaver, Young Men and Their Chosen Paths: Stephen Daldry's film Billy Elliot and Seamus Heaney's poem 'Follower', Making History Personal in 'Billy Elliot': Social and Cultural Upward Mobility under Thatchers Government, Human Experiences Can Be Difficult but Transformative: Comparing 'Billy Elliot" and Deng Adut University of Western Sydney Advertisement. Meanwhile, Billy's grandmother looks at another grave as Billy calls her over. Billy tells her he has to go to boxing and leaves. 1. Set against the background of the 1984 Miner's Strike, Billy Elliot (Jamie Bell) is an 11-year-old boy who stumbles out of the boxing ring and onto the ballet floor. Billy Elliot explores the growth and change of, pre-adolescent boy and his own discovery and. While some parents might object to this part of the story, we see it as a strength. This is the first time hes been so honest to himself or anyone else. Mrs. Wilkinson tells Jackie about the missed opportunity, but fearing that Billy will be considered to be gay, both Jackie and Tony are outraged at the prospect of him becoming a professional ballet dancer. Gain full access to show guides, character breakdowns, auditions, monologues and more! 5. In the end, Dame, In the final scene, the ballet in which Billy performs is. their structure and their individual consciousness or agency. Human experiences may be collective, individual or a combination of both. It then transferred to. 3. Once the strike was called, the union membership came out in force. Current family patriarch, widowed Jackie Elliot (Gary Lewis), and his elder son Tony Elliot (Jamie Draven) work in the mine, and Jackie's younger son, 11-year-old Billy Elliot (Jamie Bell), will probably take his place alongside his father and brother when the time comes. Scene (Introduction of Billys brother and father): Billy playing the piano. One of the Best! 6. Imagine basketball, baseball, football, or tennis with no grunts, grimaces, or spitting allowed! Although very nervous, Billy performs well, but he punches another boy in frustration at the audition, fearing that he has ruined his chances of attaining his dream. More books than SparkNotes. When he tells her that he cannot, as he is signed up for boxing, Sandra's daughter, Debbie, protests, "But you're crap at boxin'!"
These wide shots are not simply for the sake of aesthetic they underscore the important tension between industry, capitalism and beauty that reoccurs throughout the film. While the idea for this movie took screenwriter, Burberry celebrated the 15th anniversary of this movie by using it as the inspiration for their 2015 Christmas campaign, starring Dame. We had some disagreement about the internal genre: On the one hand, Billy himself, though he eventually earns social and artistic respect, is almost untouched by shame at any point in the story, which makes Status > Admiration the more likely internal genre. The effects of the strike can be seen in the policies of the New Labour governments of Prime Ministers Tony Blair and Gordon Brown, which have abandoned many of the traditional Labour Party positions for more capitalist and centrist policies. Billys brother also inherits this, expressing himself through violence, coarse language and spirited rebellion against the police. Connections The only life the Elliots have known is working in the mine. They pass a large group of armed policemen as they talk, and Debbie tells Billy about a straight ballet dancer. They go back in the gym to practice. His relative scale increases, and this subtle effect hints at whats to come. It taxes the imagination and demands your very best work. When Mower saw this movie as a small child, it inspired him to become a dancer - specifically to aspire to a role in the New Adventures Dance Company's all-male production of Swan Lake, which is the ballet that the adult Billy performs in at the end of this movie. Sign up below and we'll immediately send you a coupon code to get any Story Grid title - print, ebook or audiobook - for free. Here, Daldry uses blocking (the movements and actions of characters within space) in combination with the editing and music to convey how Billy imagines the music in his head. However, when they ask him why he wants to dance, he speaks from his heart. When Billy stands next to the barre, a girl asks him why he doesn't join in, and he does. The switch to Jackie/Tonys POV is to reinforce the personal conflict (i.e., show the audience just how serious the financial pressures are). Billy defies his father and surreptitiously attends dance classes. 1. With respect to Billy Elliot, you will need to examine the various experiences that each of the characters face, and how these speak to broader human experiences that the audience can connect with. Sandra adjusts him in a pose, then dismisses the class.
As most good films have the cliche` happy ending these conflicts were resolved and Billy was able to continue his ambition and express his passion through the art of dance. However, the miners were tremendously loyal to the unions. Notice also the visual contrast between legs (dancing) and arms (boxing). All of producer Jon Finn's family on his mother's side worked in the pits in the region where the filming was done. Billy doesnt love boxing and isnt very good either. (but a fantastic dance sequence follows!). She appears seemingly from nowhere in one shot she isnt there, and in the next she is. It ran until April 2016 and was nominated for 9 Olivier Awards, winning the award for Best New Musical.
Was he being disloyal to his class, his union, and his fellow workers? WebWhen Billy leans on Ms Wilkinsons shoulder and cries, it shows that all Billy wants is comfort, acceptance, love and perhaps his mother back. 
The film depicts a young boy facing the challenge of overcoming traditional The librarian tells him he cannot take it out on a junior ticket. It is clear that neither Billy nor Michael fit into the structure of their time, and at times it seems like the structure may overpower them into submission. However, his mothers authority is rendered in the subjective realm, and is thus made more powerful and distinct. The project had particular resonance for producer. Themes of the film are discussed in greater detail below, but you should remember to link them back to these rubric-centred ideas. Sign up today to unlock amazing theatre resources and opportunities. But perhaps the most prominent example of wardrobe comes through Michael, Billys friend, who uses crossdressing in one particular scene as a way of expressing his sexuality. A young boy in boxing gear doing a pli is a striking image, and the film includes many comic instances of Billy mirroring the elegant movements he sees, when what he is supposed to be doing is becoming a tougher boxer. Propping it on the shelf, he practices a position, falling over after a moment.
It closed on January 8, 2012. It was enormous, at one time employing a million men. Billy performs well at the audition, but hits another applicant out of frustration, and the panel must decide if he deserves a place based on his statement that dance feels like electricity. Billy is accepted, and years later performs in.