Dancing into your heart and soul

Rating: 7/10 (29 August 2000)

For me, easily the most enjoyable film of the Edinburgh International Film Festival (though there might have been others as good which I couldn't get tickets for). It is the story of a young boy's struggle to become a ballet dancer against a working class background (set against the Miners' Strike, a single parent family and a violent father who initially reacts to his son's aspirations with accusations of homosexuality). Whatever the critical analysis, this film is a sheer joy to watch from beginning to end. It's audience appeal may even turn out to be as great as the Full Monty. This is modern, popular British cinema at its best!