In 1984 County Durham, 11-year-old Billy is sent to boxing but drifts into a ballet class and finds he wants to dance. His father and brother are striking miners who think ballet is not for their family. The film is worth watching for how it ties one boy's dream to a whole town's struggle.
Billy Elliot is a 2000 drama film directed by Stephen Daldry. This breakdown covers 4 techniques (1 cinematography, 1 sound, 1 narrative and 1 editing), each with the scene where you can see it. If you like how it is made, Mean Streets uses several of the same techniques.
Using specific working-class parts of a city, like its bars, docks and construction sites, to define the characters. The places show who they are expected to be and what leaving would cost.
How this film uses it
The film was shot around Easington Colliery in County Durham, with over 400 locals as extras. Mine entrances, terraced streets and a gym turned soup kitchen show what the community can and cannot afford. Billy's dream means leaving all of it.
Where to see it
The gym: The ballet class meets in the boxing gym because the usual studio is serving as a soup kitchen for striking miners.
Playing an existing popular song at a precise moment in the film. The song's lyrics, era and associations add irony, period feel or emotion that an original score could not.
How this film uses it
The soundtrack uses T. Rex, The Jam and The Clash. The glam rock fits Billy's bursting energy, and the punk anger fits the strike. The songs tell you what the town is feeling.
Where to see it
The opening: Billy bounces on his bed to a T. Rex song, long before anyone sees him dance.
Showing a character's inner change through their body: weight, posture, movement, injury or recovery. The body becomes a visible record of what happened to them and what it cost.
How this film uses it
Billy goes from a clumsy boy in boxing gloves to a dancer who can audition for the Royal Ballet School. His body and movement show what he is learning. The audition, where he says dancing feels like electricity, shows how far he has come.
Where to see it
The audition: In London, Billy dances well but punches another boy in frustration, then describes how dancing feels.
Jumping ahead years after the story has resolved to show what became of a character. The whole story before it then reads as a look back at what was right and wrong.
How this film uses it
After the strike ends and Billy leaves for London, the film jumps to 1998. He is now 25 and dances the Swan in Matthew Bourne's Swan Lake while his family watches. The leap shows you the cost and reward of his choice.
Where to see it
1998: Billy's father and brother watch him from the audience as he dances the Swan.
Questions
Billy Elliot: quick answers
What filmmaking techniques does Billy Elliot use?
CineCode breaks down 4 techniques in Billy Elliot (2000): Working-Class Geography, Pop Music Needle Drop, Physical Transformation as Arc and Jump-Forward Epilogue.
Who directed Billy Elliot?
Stephen Daldry directed Billy Elliot, released in 2000. CineCode also covers The Hours (2002).
What films are similar to Billy Elliot?
Films that share techniques with Billy Elliot include Mean Streets (1973), Philadelphia (1993), Goodfellas (1990), The Departed (2006).
