Set against the turbulent backdrop of the UK miners' strike (19845),Billy Elliot(2000) follows eleven-year-old Billy as he pursues his dreamof becoming a ballet dancer. Hailed for its heartfelt portrayal of working classlife and its powerful challenge to gender stereotypes, StephenDaldry's film is recognised today as a significant contribution to thetradition of British social-realist cinema.
James Leggott's insightful study explores the creative forces behindBilly Elliot's development, drawing from interviews with many of the core production team, such as the screenwriter Lee Hall, the choreographer Peter Darling and the composer Stephen Warbeck. Leggott identifies influences from the worlds of theatre, dance, photography and music, including inspirations specific to the North East of England, and calls attention to the film's innate musicality in its bold and playful combinations of soundtrack and action, with songs by Marc Bolan and T. Rex, The Clash and The Jam among others. TracingBilly Elliot's global impact and its remarkable afterlife as a hit stage production, Leggott makes a case for the film's enduring significance in British cinema history.
A study of Stephen Daldry's coming-of-age dance drama,
Billy Elliot(2000), in the BFI Film Classics series.
James Leggottis Associate Professor of film at Northumbria University, UK. He is author of
The North East of England on Film and Television(2022),
In Fading Light: The Films of the Amber Collective(2020), and
Contemporary British Cinema: From Heritage to Horror(2008). He is editor of
Conflicting Masculinities: Men in Television Period Drama(I. B. Tauris, 2018).
Introduction
1. Origins
2. Production
3. The Comedy ofBilly Elliot
4. British Cinema
5. Interpretations
6. Aftermath
Credits
Endnotes
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