Scene One: Opening Scene: The opening shot of hands shows fingers that tremble whilst placing the
record onto the record player. This then leads into Billy jumping up into the screen and his
exhilaration and excitement increases, as does the screen and it lengthens until his whole body
comes into view. The screen enlarges again which makes Billy seem and look much smaller.
ANALYSIS: This displays Billy’s love for music and symbolises the way in which it embodies him. We
are given a hint here that music will provide him a pathway into a wider world, but also make him
susceptible to the dangers and prejudices that exist in the world.
Scene (Introduction of Billy’s brother and father): Billy playing the piano
ANALYSIS: Billy is struggling to make music on the piano, showing his early desires for selfexpression. He practises the piano without encouragement or guidance, and continues to play after
the scene in which his father has slammed down the piano’s lid. These scenes allow the responder
to infer that Billy will face further struggle and opposition as he attempts to make his transition into
the wider world and although his journey into his artistic expression will be difficult, that he is
motivated to succeed. Also, the photographs placed on the piano offer us a look into a family which
was once whole but has now been fractured by the death of a mother and wife, plus the hardship
which results from the miners’ strikes.
Scene (Boxing Vs. Ballet): Billy going to boxing class
ANALYSIS: Billy is hesitant to enter the boxing hall, as he acknowledges his desire to fit in and
embody what type of boy he is expected to be, but dreams for more. In this scene, another boy
enters the hall and pushes Billy out of the way aggressively; reinforcing the idea that Billy is already
an outsider. The ‘swinging door’ then represents the barrier between Billy and the world that he is
expected to be a part of.
Within this scene as Billy is punching the bag, he hears the instructions of the ballet teacher and
begins to hit the bag in time with the music. ‘Hear the music, feel it’ - His technique comes together
and he discovers how through the medium of music, boxing has become a creative form of
expression.
HSC ENGLISH STUDY GUIDE: Billy Elliot
http://books.google.com.au/books?id=ksGcdJNKb-wC&pg=PA23&lpg=PA23&dq=billy+elliot+analysis&source=bl&ots=Bk3BMZ7M3&sig=oeSv8a142bERpkDI99dTkGpIbuo&hl=en&sa=X&ei=RWEoUOzGNomtiQeD74GgBw&ved=0CDAQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=bil
ly%20elliot%20analysis&f=false
Scene: Billy lines up with the girls:
ANALYSIS: The film has the camera panning
past many pairs of ballet-slippered feet before
settling and focusing on Billy wearing his
boxing boots. This shot reinforces not only
Billy’s innate difference, but highlights Billy’s
preparedness to take risks and stand out
regardless of his difference. Billy is desperate
to escape his claustrophobic and small town
surroundings, but hasn’t discovered yet how.
In a later scene where Billy complains that he
doesn’t know ‘what to do’ in his ballet class,
we realise the concept here that ballet has
found Billy, rather than the other way round.
Scene: Michael’s Self-Discovery:
ANALYSIS: When Billy tells Michael about his lessons we discover why the other boys do not accept
Michael – When asked about tutu’s, Michael says that he’d liket o wear one and that he thinks that
Billy would look good in one too. This is a moment of recognition for Billy as he begins to understand
why Michael doesn’t fit in with the other boys and why he finds comfort with Michael; neither boy
wants what they community and small minded town can offer them. This is further symbolised by
their desire within this scene to find an alternative route and take an short-cut on the cross country,
laughing at the boys who are taking the set paths.
Scene: Secret Dancer and Billy’s fulfilment:
ANALYSIS: Billy is soon obsessed with dancing and it consumes him. Billy’s fulfilment through his
creative outlet in the scene where he dances home with his ballet slippers slung around his neck for
all to see. This sequence then finishes with Billy striking a clear cord on the piano and looking up at
photographs of his mother; Billy is finally happy and has found his place in the world as a dancer.
Scene: Billy gets caught out
‘ First rule of the union, Gary. You never cross a picket line. We’re all fucked if you forget that’
This exchange highlights the world in which Billy’s family lives is that of rules and traditions which
cannot be broken. Within this world, men and boys are expected to act in a particular way and they
believe that by following these rules, they will succeed in the end. By partaking in ballet instead of
HSC ENGLISH STUDY GUIDE: Billy Elliot
http://books.google.com.au/books?id=ksGcdJNKb-wC&pg=PA23&lpg=PA23&dq=billy+elliot+analysis&source=bl&ots=Bk3BMZ7M3&sig=oeSv8a142bERpkDI99dTkGpIbuo&hl=en&sa=X&ei=RWEoUOzGNomtiQeD74GgBw&ved=0CDAQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=bil
ly%20elliot%20analysis&f=false
boxing, Billy ultimately goes against the rules and traditions which have been laid out for him by
society. As Jackie Elliot states, ‘Lads do football or boxing or wrestling. Not bloody ballet!’. It is not
prejudice or ignorance that blinds Billy’s father, but rather tradition, gender roles and his deep
rooted ideas of masculinity. The sports listed by Jackie are all sports which centre on aggression and
tend to be associated with middle-working class communities. By defying the highly engrained
expectations of what it is to be a man within a mining town, Billy’s character allows to responder to
question instilled beliefs about masculinity and gender stereotypes.
This clash between Billy and his father is one of the key and defining scenes within the film in
relation to the concept of ‘Into the World’. When Billy finally shouts, ‘I hate you! You’re a bastard!’ –
Billy runs from the kitchen table and Jackie grabs Billy and holds him against the door; Billy’s father
here displays himself as both a physical and psychological obstacle for Billy, and this is highlighted by
Jackie physically holding Billy against the door, acting as a barrier that limits Billy and stops from
pursuing his path into a new world.
INTO THE WORLD: The relevance of this concept in the film Billy Elliot is engrained most evidently
through the existence of alternative and clashing worlds.
Billy, his family, his best friend and his ballet teacher all live in different worlds. In Billy’s street all of
the houses are small and cramped closely together. They all back into a common lane, symbolising
the idea that everyone share’s a common and non divergent path within the town.
This is contrasted in the scene in which we see Billy’s teacher’s street. Billy walks through pretty and
open suburban streets, which large front lawns and flowers and trees in the garden. His hesitation
when he reaches the door symbolises that visiting the Wilkinson’s house is a turning point for Billy.
Private lessons: Billy is shot from above as he walks in to the hall. His shadow looms over the door
as he looks through the gate and sees Mrs. Wilkinson sitting in a pool of light. The room suggests the
entrance into another world.
His mothers letters: ‘Always be yourself...’ Here lies the strength for Billy to overcome all obstacles
and move into a world which is strongly opposed by those who are most important to him.
Billy’s Outburst: At this point in the film, Billy’s family is imploding and Billy is constantly feeling
powerless, witnessing the physical altercations between his brother and father. When Billy is
accused of not concentrating during a practice session, his frustration and rage erupts and he takes
these out on Mrs. Wilkinson. ‘You don’t know anything. What do you know in your posh house with
your husband that pisses himself? You’re the same as everybody else.... Don’t pick on me because
HSC ENGLISH STUDY GUIDE: Billy Elliot
http://books.google.com.au/books?id=ksGcdJNKb-wC&pg=PA23&lpg=PA23&dq=billy+elliot+analysis&source=bl&ots=Bk3BMZ7M3&sig=oeSv8a142bERpkDI99dTkGpIbuo&hl=en&sa=X&ei=RWEoUOzGNomtiQeD74GgBw&ved=0CDAQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=bil
ly%20elliot%20analysis&f=false
you fucked up your own life.’ When Billy says ‘its alright for you, you don’t know anything’ he is
sharing his feelings of alienation and pressure.
MICRO: Micro world refers to a person’s immediate world and includes their family, peer group and
school.
MACRO: Macro world refers to the wider society that help to manage society and can include
government, societal values and the media.
HSC ENGLISH STUDY GUIDE: Billy Elliot
http://books.google.com.au/books?id=ksGcdJNKb-wC&pg=PA23&lpg=PA23&dq=billy+elliot+analysis&source=bl&ots=Bk3BMZ7M3&sig=oeSv8a142bERpkDI99dTkGpIbuo&hl=en&sa=X&ei=RWEoUOzGNomtiQeD74GgBw&ved=0CDAQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=bil
ly%20elliot%20analysis&f=false