simply superb

Rating: 8/10 (8 June 2001)

It is a crime that this movie didn't get an Academy Award. You don't have to be a ballet fan to be enthralled by this story of a poverty-stricken kid in a grungy Welsh mining town who completely by chance becomes enthralled by the world of dance, and to his instructor's amazement and his father's and brother's dismay, has the talent and ambition to want to go all the way with it. The movie is really about the triumph of the spirit and about family love and sacrifice. It's a beautiful, yes even uplifting and inspiring film. The kid who plays Billy does an absolutely phenomenal job, way beyond his years. Don't miss it (caveat: the accents are a bit thick, and it is essential to the plot to know that the word "pouf", used a lot here, is analogous in the UK to our degrading American terms "fag" or "queer"). This is a film that will last through the years.