(Introduction you must introduce Billy Elliot (2002) directed by Stephen Daldry)

Paragraph One: The context of Billy’s World

* Depicts the obstacles of transgressing cultural and economic boundaries

* Set against Britain’s bitter 1984 coal miner’s strike – frames of posters encouraging workers to keep to the strike are juxtaposed with lines of police officers holding up shields

* Explores the effects of economic struggle on the community and individual

* The recurring image of an armed police presence represents the social conformity that blocks Billy’s transition

* Family’s economic struggle due to the strike – emotional scene of Jackie cutting up his wife’s piano for firewood at Christmas

* Juxtaposition of Billy’s impoverished working class neighbourhood of crammed red brick townhouses with Debbie’s more affluent suburb with well-trimmed gardens and open spaces – the steep, cobblestoned backstreets reflect the confined uniformity of Billy’s existence

* Billy’s aspiration of becoming a ballet dancer is contextualised within an environment of limited opportunities – the mis-en-scene of billy preparing breakfast shows a cramped kitchen with clothes hung on a makeshift clothesline. Yet Billy glides around to “Cosmic Dancer”, oblivious to the mess and disorder

* Yorkshire slang and working class dialect is used in the film to add credibility to the story

* Slow motion images of jostling torsos and beating shields during the miner’s confrontations with the police highlight the conflict

* Inter-cutting/parallel editing is frequently used to link the dual storylines of dance and union revolt

* Background sounds of police sirens reinforce the political and economic context and the impact it has on mining families

* Intertextuality helps foreground the mining strike with the background radio news broadcast reporting the strike

* Jarring image of Debbie dragging her stick against the wall and then against the Perspex riot shields without flinching - highlights the rigid, confrontational society that Billy is transitioning from

Paragraph Two: What instigates Billy’s transition

* Billy’s dancing is strongly linked to his love for his deceased mother and to his grandmother, and this provides the motivation for him to pursue dancing – the text of his mother’s letter “always be yourself” sums up the film’s underlying theme

* Billy’s sensitive and nurturing side is expressed through dancing. (close up shot at opening of film showing his gentle manner with the record player and his grandmother, the medium

shot of him kneeling at his mother’s grave removing the graffiti, accompanied by soft piano chords playing non-diegetically)

* Billy is determined and perseveres with his dancing – close shot of Billy walking home from dance lessons with his ballet shoes around his neck and the Fred Astaire dance sequences – Billy’s stick acting as a makeshift cane , foreshadowing his talent and underdeveloped potential– links him to the famous dancer

* Billy’s freedom as he goes against convention to follow his aspirations – tracking shot of Billy escaping from Jackie and running to Debbie’s house dancing joyfully, and dancing with Mrs Wilkinson to “We Love to Boogie”

* In the kitchen scene at the opening of the film, where Billy dances around to “Cosmic Dancer’, he wears a yellow singlet which symbolises the intrinsic joy he feels when dancing

Paragraph Three: What obstacles to transition are faced?

* Not all transitions come easily

* He faces numerous obstacles in his transition from his working class background to a London ballet school

* Individuals need to be resolute in the face of obstacles and barriers to successfully transition to new phases of life

* The recurring image of the Community Centre door symbolises the narrow-mindedness Billy has to fight through

* Billy’s father, Jackie Elliot, poses a major obstacle to Billy’s transition as does his brother Tony who is aggressive and volatile

* He has to dispel the gender stereotypes – ballet is viewed by his father as a sport for “poofs” or “girls” – Billy needs to navigate through narrow ideas of masculinity

Paragraph Four: The outcome of his transition

* The entire town changes, banding together to support Billy both morally and financially. Their sacrifice make’s Billy’s transition possible.

* Jackie pawns his beloved wife’s jewellery to support Billy – the extreme close-up shot of Jackie’s hand gathering his wife’s jewellery, with Tony’s diegetic voice in the background saying “There is no money left”.