The film “ Billy Elliot " is a British-based dance drama film written and directed by Lee Hall and Stephen Daldry. It was produced with captivating themes and astonishing cinematography to capture the attention of those who watch it adequately. The film explicates the life of a young man who discovers his passion for dancing ballet at an early age; however, his parents are not supportive and want him to practice boxing more often instead. This paper explores the themes presented in the film " Billy Elliot " and the astonishing cinematography while shooting the video. Themes covered in this paper include family, passion, and gender.
Family
Throughout the film, we see Billy and his family trying to make things work despite the problematic situation. Immediately after Jackie's wife's death, trouble begins, and he can not keep his family together anymore because he has a hard time trying to understand his sons ( Elliot, 2020 ). He cannot provide the nurturance the same way their mother did; this prompts the entire family to find allegiance despite the vast existent differences between themselves. The film's start portrays a fragmented family portrait whereby family members hardly come into an agreement, but later on, develops to become a family full of love and showing how powerful love is even during times of turmoil.
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Passion
Passion is displayed in the film by how Billy is consistent when he realizes his begotten passion for Ballet dancing. The film explains several situations when Billy is witnessed dancing despite himself and when he can not help but keep kicking his feet up in the air to try and do some dance. Billy uses his love for dancing to overcome hardships that he comes across in life; dancing bubbles up his body at vital moments in life. Besides, when he appears to have ruined his Ballet dancing career, he answers a question posed to him by some judges; he says, to him dancing is like a form of electricity that runs through his body ( Elliot, 2020 ). By answering the question uniquely and especially despite not being a polished or posh student in the class, Billy proves his passion for Ballet dancing.
Gender
The theme of gender is presented because, from where Billy comes from, Ballet dancing is an activity majorly for girls while boys are known for boxing. When he first joins Ballet dancing, the woe of his interest leaning on what girls are known for first causes him a lot of confusion; however, he later learns that male Ballet dancers are amongst the greatest athletes in the world ( Elliot, 2020 0. This reassures him to keep growing his interest in Ballet dancing. His father and father took too long to come to terms with his interest due to the stereotype that Ballet is only for girls and probably gay men.
Social Class
Initially, Ballet dancers don’t come from little mining villages located on the northern side of England. The theme of class manifests itself in how Billy interacts with rick boy's discipline of Barret dancing despite coming from a humble background. Ballet dancing is associated with elite persons who are well-off and not with poor peasant children. As a result, the theme of "class" can be seen in two ways: being a boy in a girl’s discipline and being poor and coming from a humble background as earlier opposed by Ballet dancing history ( Elliot, 2020 ). The theme of class is not precisely addressed in the film but informs Billy's narrative.
Politics
The film's setting was done when Northern England was experiencing a backdrop of miner's strikes in the early 1980s. This was experienced when there was an ongoing battle between the government under Margaret Thatcher and unions that represented the miners. Due to their beliefs, Jackie and Tony are on strike during the time of the filming. However, at some point in the film, it is evident that Jackie and Tony share many of their beliefs despite appearing to disagree about specific terms and details of the movement. Tony has become violent, and Jackie doesn't appear to like the violence with Tony. Due to the existing political conflicts, Tony gets arrested at one point in the film, which prompts Billy to miss Ballet auditions ( Elliot, 2020 ). As a result, political conflict can be described as a significant theme expressed in the film. Besides, Billy's interest in Ballet is an exactly set-in stark contrast to the ongoing heated political unrest at the time.
Cinematography.
The camera style used to do the filming was done under average distance; however, there are close-up shots used for a more focused appearance when focusing on some face. In the scenes where the strikes are being filmed, the camera has been placed in the middle of the protesting crowd to capture the actual occurrences and give an accurate and precise depiction of what is going on ( Elliot, 2020 ). This also gives the observer a feeling of authenticity. The filming also goes hand in hand with Billy during dancing sessions, similar to how it is done when miners' strikes are being filmed. The music used in the film also presents the moods together with an upbeat movement to indicate the dancing moves on Billy. For example, music is used When Billy's dad majestically walks into the boxing arena, while Michael and Billy are actively dancing to upbeat and happy music. Immediately Billy sees his father; the music also stops instantly to indicate the tension and differences between Billy and his father.
Reference
Elliot, B. (2020). The Musical Live [Video]. Retrieved 4 December 2020, from https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x78bc9f.
