by Lynda Del Sasso
Billy Elliot
UK 2000, Cert. 15
Director: Stephen Daldry
Star Rating * * *
It's 1984 in miner-strike
Durham, and eleven-year-old Billy Elliot (Jamie Bell) lives a
harsh life with his gruff Scottish father (Gary Lewis),
aggressive elder brother (Jamie Draven) and doolally
grandmother. In this stark poverty-stricken environment, where
men would rather punch each other's lights out than show
affection, Billy becomes fascinated with a ballet class
conducted by Mrs Wilkinson (Julie Walters). Of course Billy's
father and brother are horrified when they find out, and so
begins Billy's uphill struggle to become a dancer.
It's easy to imagine the
screenwriter dreaming up obstacle after obstacle to throw in
Billy's path… what could be the worst possible background
for a male ballet dancer? Let's see, tough Northern working
class, living on the breadline of course, let's give him a
tough uneducated father and a bully of a brother, and yes,
we'll kill off his mother, and why not, let's afflict his
grandmother with Alzheimers… and while we're at it let's
make Billy's only schoolfriend an effeminate cross-dressing
boy… that sort of thing always goes down well in Northern
mining communities… and there in a nutshell we have the
major problem with this film: lack of subtlety. Disadvantage
and misfortune is dumped on poor Billy by the barrowload, to
the point that it becomes ridiculous. All that's missing is
for a kind-hearted elderly relative to be dying of coal dust
poisoning, forcing Billy to sacrifice his dancing to pay for
doctor's fees.
However, apart from the
wagonload of obstacles strewn in young Billy's path, and the
unexplained fact that his ballet steps bear an uncanny
resemblance to Michael Flatley's tap-Irish routines, and the
wholly-predictable ending, this film is still worth seeing for
Jamie Bell's superb performance in the central role. Fluffy
feelgood escapism built on theatrical exaggeration does
sometimes work.
(Odeon & Duke of York's from Sept 29)
Dinosaur
US 2000, Cert. PG
Director: Ralph Zondag
Star Rating * * * *
Set 65 million years ago, this
is a tale of an Iguanadon named Aladar, separated from his own
species as a hatchling and brought up by a clan of Lemurs.
When a catastrophic meteor shower destroys their island,
Aladar and his Lemur family are forced to flee to the mainland
and join a ragtag procession of migrating dinosaurs searching
for a new nesting ground. Water and food are in short supply
and the trek is made more hazardous by ever-present predators.
Dinosaur is an animated film,
but this is animation far removed from anything that has gone
before. A blend of digitally enhanced live-action photography,
special-effect wizardry and computer-generated characters, the
result has been dubbed 'photoreality' and it is indeed an
amazing spectacle. Four years in the making, this ambitious
project apparently required 3.2 million processing hours and
45 terabytes of disc space (or 45 million megabytes)… but
was it all worth it? Without a doubt. The plot may be a tad
simplistic but the characters, voiced by the likes of Joan
Plowright, Julianna (ER) Margulies and Samuel E. Wright, are
endearing, while the sheer scope and scale of the visual
extravaganza is not to be missed.
(Odeon from Oct 13)
4th Jewish Film Festival
Celebrating the diversity of
Jewish images, the 4th Brighton Jewish Film Festival runs next
month, November 11-25, with screenings at the Duke of York's
and Cinematheque.
Highlights this year include
One Day in September (UK, 2000) Kevin MacDonald's Academy
Award-winning feature documentary about the 1972 Munich
Olympics, The Man Who Cried (UK 2000), Sally Potter's tale of
survival against the odds starring Christina Ricci, Cate
Blanchett and Johnny Depp and - a rare treat for cinemagoers -
the 1920 German silent classic The Golem, directed by Paul
Wegener, with live piano accompaniment.
Personal appearances include
Chaim Topol, star of Fiddler On The Roof, who is interviewed
by Sir Sydney Samuelson CBE, and Rabbi Lionel Blue, attending
the premiere of his BBC Everyman documentary and talking
afterwards with Simon Fanshawe. In the film, Rabbi Blue
tackles the subject of ageing with his renowned gentle humour,
wisdom and charm.
The programme includes a
variety of other interesting films including Hanele (Czech
Republic, 1999), Gloomy Sunday (Germany 1999), and Cup Final
Israel (Israel, 1991). Jewish Music is showcased in four films
and there is a seminar on the forgotten holocaust of the
gypsies.
For more info please contact
the JFF office: 01273 507515 or visit
www.bjewish-filmfest.org.uk
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