Finding beauty

Rating: 7/10 (27 August 2009)

"Billy Elliot" isn't about a boy wanting to dance. It isn't about a miners' strike in the mid-1980s. These are only the elements which happen to be chose to tell this story. The story is about finding beauty in the world, finding it despite the chaos and conformity that surrounds youth.
Billy, through the course of the movie, struggles to find his own direction in life at a very young age. It's quite easy to understand this because of the choices of setting and character made for the sake of the story.
Billy is relatively young, making him subject to the pressures of his father and older brother. The time and place of the story, with police riot squads being a fixture on the streets, underscores the difficulty in being drawn to ballet, an activity not considered fitting among his family and peers. Still he pursues his passion.
The performances paint the picture perfectly. They are convincing and compelling renditions of the characters in this light, enjoyable drama.