Billy Elliot

Dream. It is a beautiful five-letter word that is full of possibility, hope, and passion. We dream as children and continue to dream through life until those dreams materialize and become a real part of our lives. Sometimes, however, there are obstacles in our paths, and our dreams seem utterly out reach. “Billy Elliot” is a movie about an eleven-year old boy who has a big dream—he wants to dance. But the obstacles in Billy’s path are his rough, working-class family and his lack of money.

Billy’s father, Jack, and his older brother, Tony, are currently on strike at the town’s coal mines. While they busy themselves with rioting and plotting against their employer, Billy, who is supposed to be taking boxing lessons, stumbles upon a ballet class and becomes intoxicated with the art of dance. He begins to take private lessons from the tough, cigarette puffing ballet instructor, Mrs. Wilkinson. Billy’s passion swells and nears eruption, but when his father finds out, Jack Elliot’s pride is bruised, (he doesn’t want to have son who is a ballet dancer!) and he doesn’t have the money to finance Billy’s dancing education. It seems hopeless, but Billy holds to his dreams.

“Billy Elliot” is a grand film, but not without its flaws such as heavy profanity, some violence (riot scenes, a police chase, and rough, father-son conflicts) some homosexual undertones (Billy’s friend, not Billy himself), and a very brief, minor scene of nudity, as a distant man moons the police from which he is fleeing. There are morality issues in “Billy Elliot” as in any film that is created by a secular film maker. The story is worth watching, it’s just the touches of our secular society that makes some scenes of “Billy Elliot” a little bitter to digest. However, it is a film that can be appreciated by mature teenagers (17+) and adults and inspires its viewers to hold fast to their dream, no matter what obstacle lay in their path.