Billy Elliot

DALDRY, Stephen. Billy Elliot. United Kingdom. BBC Films. 2000. 110 min.

         Billy Elliot is a British drama film that deals with an 11-year-old Billy Elliot and his love of dance. It is written by Lee Hall and directed by Stephen Daldry, who after a successful career in theatre started working in the world of cinema. He has won many awards with just three feature films: Billy Elliot (2000), The Hours (2002) and The Reader (2008).

         The film is set during the miners’ strike in the United Kingdom between 1984 and 1985. The central character is Billy Elliot (Jamie Bell). He lives with his widowed father Jackie (Gary Lewis) and his old brother Tony (Jamie Draven), both miners. He also has to look after his grandmother (Jean Heywood).

         Jackie is an old-fashioned father, who takes Billy to the Sports Centre to learn boxing even though Billy dislikes this sport. But one day a ballet class uses the gym because their usual studio is being used by the striking miners. Billy joins the ballet class and, surprisingly, he likes the experience. He begins to show interest in ballet, so he starts dancing secretly in his bedroom and in the bathroom. He also attends to Sandra Wilkinson's (Julie Walters) ballet classes, until one day when his father discovers this. He forbids Billy take any more ballet lesson. Nevertheless, Billy loves dancing and continues lessons with his dance teacher.

         Although Billy hasn’t got the support of his family, his love of dance is really strong. His courage and strength to follow his dreams, leaving aside prejudices, is the main issue of this film.

        Besides, this film has a fantastic soundtrack. The main protagonist is the British rock band T. Rex, with songs like “Get it on” or "I Love to Boogie". The Style Council and The Clash, with the famous song “London Calling”, also appear in this soundtrack.

         The film was well received all over the world. In fact, Melvin Burgess published in 2001 a book based on this movie. What is more, Billy Elliot the Musical premiered in London's West End in 2005 and was nominated for nine Laurence Olivier Awards, winning four including Best New Musical.

         Billy Elliot is a touching film which gives a message of hope and force to follow your dreams and never give up, no matter what others say or think. There is no other way to make your dreams come true. 

Gran Torino

eastwood, Clint. Gran Torino. United States. Warner Bros. 2008. 116 min.

                Gran Torino is a film directed, produced and played by Clint Eastwood. In his 57 years of professional career he has directed and starred in plenty films. However, in the last fifteen years he has focused in directing. Proof of this is the fact that since 1997 he has directed 14 films and has just starred in 7. Among all this productions we find box-office hits such as Mystic River (2003), Million Dollar Baby (2004) and Changeling (2008). It is important to point out that although he’s known for starring in crime thriller films like The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (1966) or Dirty Harry (1971) he tends to direct drama films.

                Clint Eastwood plays the lead role in this film. He is Walt Kowalski, a gruff retired and Korean War veteran old man which wife has already passed away. He lives alone with his dog. Besides the isolation he feels is the emotional detachment of his sons and daughters. 

The neighborhood where he lives in Detroit, used to be populated by working-class white families, but now it is dominated by poor Asian immigrants and violence. The Hmong Von Lor family resides next door. Walt wants nothing to do with them but one day he catches Thao Vang Lor (Bee Vang), a young boy of the family, attempting to steal his Gran Torino in order to be a member of a Hmong gang run by his cousin "Spider." As a punishment, Thao’s mother makes him work for Walt, who accepts and makes him do jobs around the neighborhood. Walt also has a good relationship with Thao’s sister Sue (Ahney Her) who invites him to a great Hmong dinner.

Walt begins to feel affection for the family and this is the beginning of a beautiful touching story. He begins to look after Thao and his sister. He teaches Thao a job and also helps him to get one.  He gives him advice on dating too. However the Hmong gang continues to pressure and Walt decides to take measures to remedy the situation.

                Apart from the drama, the film has a light tone of humor particularly in Walt’s contact with Asian culture. For example, he insists to refer to Thao with the name of Toad. He also calls Yum Yum a Hmong girl which real name is Youa.

                Gran Torino is a film with a strong psychological impact. This film teaches us that behind a gruff bad-tempered man hides a man who has had a difficult life and who opens his heart to the people that worth it.

                Even though I don’t consider myself a big fan of Clint Eastwood, I highly recommend this film. I must admit that the first time I saw it my hairs stood on the end. Nevertheless if you are a very sensitive person, I wouldn’t recommend you watching this film. However if you decide to watch it, don’t forget take some tissue. 

Pulp Fiction

tarantino, Quentin. Pulp Fiction. United States. Miramax Films. 1994. 153 min.

            Pulp Fiction is one of the most representative films of Tarantino’s cinema and the film that exalted him to fame. As in many subsequent films such as Kill Bill vol.1, the plot follows a nonlinear storyline and it is divided in chapters. It connects the intersecting storylines of Los Angeles criminals and mobsters. Pulp Fiction is well-known for its dialogues and ironic mix of violence and humor. The film was nominated for seven Oscars, including Best picture, but only won the Oscar for Best Original Screenplay. Pulp Fiction is considered one of the best films of all times.

            Pulp Fiction deals with three jumbled stories that are interrelated.

            At the beginning, in the prologue we can see “Pumpkin” (Tim Roth) and “Honey Bunny” (Amanda Plummer), a young couple of criminals that are having breakfast in a diner. They are having a conversation about how much money could they make robbing the diner and its customers.

            The opening chapter is called “Vincent Vega and Marsellus Wallace’s Wife”. Jules Winnfield (Samuel L. Jackson) and Vincent Vega (John Travolta) are two mobsters that are driving to retrieve a briefcase from Brett (Frank Whaley), who has transgressed against their boss, Marsellus Wallace (Ving Rhames). On their way, they talk about their boss’ wife and mention that Vincent has been asked to escort her. That night Vincent goes to dinner with Mia Wallace (Uma Thurman) but the night complicates.

            The second chapter (“The Golden Watch”) starts when a young Butch is visited by Captain Koons (Christopher Walken) who served with his dead father in Vietnam. Koons is there to tell Butch a story about a golden watch that was transmitted from generation to generation in Butch’s family. Immediately, we can see an adult
Butch (Bruce Willis) running away in a taxi because he has double-crossed Marsellus Wallace, betting his payoff on himself. He has won the fight and, besides, he learns from the taxi driver that he has killed the opposing fighter. Next morning, at the motel, he and his girlfriend Fabienne (Maria de Medeiros) are planning to escape to another country when Butch realizes that Fabienne has forgotten the golden watch in the apartment. When Butch returns the apartment to recover the watch, he discovers that Marcelllus Wallace’s mans are looking for him. On his way back to the motel, while waiting at a traffic light, Marcellus walks by and recognizes him. They start to fight until they get into the shop of a rapist.

            In the closing chapter (“The Bonnie Situation”) we return to the opening chapter but with a different view. When Jules and Vincent get to Brett’s, there’s another man (Alexis Arquette) hiding in the bathroom. He bursts out of the bathroom and shoots them but he misses all the shoots. Then they drive off with one of Brett’s associates, but Vincent shoots him accidentally in the face. In order to get rid of their bloody car, Jules calls his friend Jimmie (Quentin Tarantino) for help. Jimmie offers them his house but he’s really worried because his wife Bonnie will soon arrive from work.

            Finally in the epilogue, Jules and Vincent are having breakfast in a diner. In a brief, we see “Pumpkin” and “Honey Bunny” before the hold-up. While Vincent is in the bathroom, the hold-up starts. “Pumpkin” demands all the customer’s belongings, including Jules’ mysterious case.

            We can affirm categorically that Pulp Fiction is a masterpiece of 20^th century cinema. It has been a big influence for other directors that try to imitate Tarantino’s dialogues, violence and ironic sense of humor. This film is highly recommended and also it is an essential part of our culture.