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Film option 2: Billy Elliot

Billy Elliot

Your teacher can print out this worksheet for you and you can all read it together before seeing the movie, to make sure you understand the text and the questions. 

Enjoy this excellent film!

Wikipedia Billy Elliot Dominio público

Billy Elliot  (2000), directed by Stephen Daldry, is set in 1984 and tells the story of an eleven-year-old boy in a working class family in Durham, in the north of England. The young actor who plays Billy, Jamie Bell, got an Oscar for this film.

Billy’s mother died years ago and he lives with his father and his brother, who are both miners, and his grandmother. In 1984 there was a strike by the miners in England which lasted for a whole year, which is why in Billy’s family there is very little money and a lot of anxiety. Billy wants to be a ballet dancer but his family don’t understand why he doesn’t want to do football or boxing, like the other boys they know.  

The most important theme of this film is intolerance and how we judge by appearances (for example, Billy is a dancer but he’s not homosexual, while his friend who isn’t a dancer, is!)

Other themes are:

-         Poverty and unemployment

-         Solidarity

-         Difficult family relationships

-         Different social classes

-         Fighting for your dreams 

 

The use of music in this film is interesting: apart from hearing some famous ballet music such as parts of “Swan Lake” by Tchaikovsky, there is music by English groups and artists such as David Bowie and T-Rex. They belong to the era of “glam rock”: they played with sexual ambiguity using make-up and glamorous clothes on stage. There is also music by bands like The Clash and The Jam, who often wrote political songs with lyrics about social problems and industrial conflicts.

Activities to do after watching the film

 

1)      Write down thirty new words that you learnt in this film.

2)      Give examples of scenes in which the film highlights the themes stated above (and any more that you think are important).

3)      What do you think about the use of music in this film? Illustrate your ideas with examples.

4)   In general, did you like Billy Elliot?  Why or why not? Give good reasons for your answer.