Notes on Billy Elliot “Billy’s World”

Resource Description

BILLY’S WORLD

Let the film roll until George says “Billy! Punchbag!”

The film opens with a statement of where and when the action is set: Durham Coalfield, Northeast England, 1984. Margaret Thatcher is the British Prime Minister and she is locked in conflict with the striking miners’ union. A slim, artistic-looking hand takes an LP record from its cover and places it on a turn-table. A correction is made as the arm is replaced onto another track. This person seems to know what he wants. Dropping the needle on a record like this can cause damage and is not the best way to ensure its long life! This is Billy Elliot and he begins to bounce on his bed to the rhythm of T-Rex’s Cosmic Dancer. “I was dancing when I was twelve” sings Marc Bolan. We can clearly see that Billy is bouncing on his mattress, but in his mind he has gone to a special place and has a fantasy that he is flying through the air on a trampoline. He seems to be using every part of his body as the music and beat fill his mind. His face is beaming with pleasure. His arms and legs move suggesting flight and football. A bell signals the call of reality and Billy has to leave his trampolining to deal with the affairs of daily life.