Billy Elliot is a 2000 British film that tells the story of a young boy who pursues his dream of becoming a ballet dancer, despite the opposition of his
Billy Elliot is the flip side of Girlfight. While the recent American film is about a girl who wants to be a boxer and is opposed by her macho father but supported by her brother, the new British film is about a boy who wants to be a ballet dancer but is opposed by his macho father and brother. Both films feature supportive adults who encourage the dreams, both oppose rigid gender definitions, both end in a big fight/dance. Girlfight is tougher, Billy Elliot sweeter. I suppose that s appropriate.
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The movie takes place in a British coal mining town, where Billy (Jamie Bell) trudges off to boxing lessons for which he is ill-equipped. Life at home is tense because his father (Gary Lewis) and brother Tony (Jamie Draven) are striking miners. One day, at the other end of the village hall, he sees ballet lessons being taught by a chain-smoking disciplinarian (Julie Walters), and his eyes grow large. Soon he is shyly joining her class, the only boy in a crowd of tutus