BILLY ELLIOT INTRODUCTION
Atelier pédagogique lycée , IUFM Limoges, année scolaire 2002-2003, coordonné par Martine LINOL
I / Analyse du
film :
Deux
histoires : celle de Billy , qui
est une ascension régulière vers son but : faire de la danse classique,
devenir danseur , et celle de son père , en dents de scie, jusqu’au revirement
final et au soutien total qu’il apporte au projet de son fils .
Eléments
à mettre en valeur : _Le contexte
social : les mineurs, la grève, les piquets de grève, la répression
policière .
Les
classes sociales : l’architectures des différents quartiers, les
intérieurs ‘middle class’ et ouvriers, les accents, la façon de se comporter,
..
Les années
Thatcher .
_ La détermination sans faille de Billy à accomplir son rêve , malgré
tous les obstacles : When there’s a will, there’s a way .
_ La relation père
/ fils et le soutien final de la famille et de la communauté .
Classes cibles :
secondes, premières ES ou même L .
II /
Construction du film :
-
Tout le début, pendant environ 30
minutes, se compose de scènes très courtes , qui plantent le décor et
présentent le contexte social . Ces plans très courts, avec un montage rapide,
ne permettent pas d’isoler une scène qui serait étudiée séparément . D’autre
part, l’accent du nord , très prononcé, est un handicap à la compréhension de
l’oral . Il faudra donc exploiter essentiellement le canal images .
-
Quelques scènes plus longues peuvent
faire l’objet d’une étude approfondie :
_ le père
découvre que son fils fait de la danse , au lieu de la boxe .
_ scènes de
répétitions, où apparaissent la souffrance et l’acharnement .
_ scène du
conflit des mineurs , poursuivis par la police : la façon ‘chorégraphique
‘dont est filmée la scène de poursuite, le rôle de la musique .
_le retour à
la mine du père, la mort dans l’âme .
_ scène à la
Royal Academy : clash des cultures .
_ Scène
finale : reprend les ‘clues ‘ du film : le copain qui lui aussi s’est
réalisé (dans son homosexualité ) , Le
Lac des Cygnes , dont Billy découvre la musique dans la voiture de Mrs
Wilkinson , son ‘envol’ , qui fait écho à ce qu’il avait fini par dire devant
le jury de la R A : « I feel like a bird » .
Notre
groupe de travail a retenu la progression suivante :
Séance
1 : - visionnement des 7 premières minutes du film, avec pour objectif
de faire repérer les éléments de l’histoire et le contexte social .
-
étude de la scène de la salle de boxe
où se déroule le cours de danse .
Séance 2 : le départ du car des
‘jaunes ‘ et la scène de la pirouette .
Séance
3 :
la découverte par le père que Billy suit des cours de danse et non de boxe, le
conflit qui s’ensuit .
Séance 4 :
at the Royal Academy .
Le film dans son entier peut ensuite
être montré , avec des consignes consistant à relever les éléments qui
confirment ce que les scènes étudiées avaient mis en lumière .
III / Début du
film .
_
le générique : les paroles de la chanson : quand les exploiter ?
en anticipation semble difficile , mais
on pourra y revenir après l’étude de l’ensemble pour mettre les paroles de la
chanson en relation avec d’autres éléments du film .
_
les sous titres : on les cache , mais on laisse le son, pour familiariser
l’oreille à l’accent et au débit, mais on travaillera essentiellement sur les
images .
_
le contexte social , les années Thatcher : une recherche documentaire
sera utile ; on peut la faire faire avant, pour aider à entrer dans la
problématique du scénario, ou après le visionnement du début pour confirmer et compléter ce que le film
laisse percevoir et comprendre .
IV / MISE EN
OEUVRE .
SEANCE 1 :
Visionnement
des 5 premières minutes , que l’on arrête juste avant l’entrainement de boxe .
L’objectif est de faire repérer les éléments du contexte familial et social
dans lequel vit Billy .
On donnera la consigne
suivante : concentrate on the
pictures and on the intonations , but don’t
worry about the words .
On posera aussi la question :what about the accent ? can you guess
why you find it difficult to understand ?
On
posera ensuite les WH questions suivantes : WHO ? _ a family, a father , an elder brother , a nan .
Who is missing ? _ picture of the mother on the piano :
probably dead, the boy must miss her, must feel lonely .
WHERE ? _ the place looks poor, there is very little space,
the rooms are cramped, small, dark look a bit messy . Yet , there is a
piano : artistic concern ?
The background : Durham 1984 .
On
fera attirera l’attention des élèves sur les éléments du décor pour les
guider vers : brick houses, terraced houses, sheds, a typical working
class environment .
THE ATMOSPHERE : tense, rough,
even violent . The elder brother looks excited, seems to be in a hurry ;
the father looks worried, preoccupied, upset by the few notes played on the
piano . Billy seems to be apart from the other 2 men . He seems to feel lonely
and isolated, even if his Nan seems to be on his side .
The police is a threat and may be
the reason why the 2 men are worried ; there must be a serious social
conflict going on . ( on pourra alors
commencer à faire émerger le lexique adéquat : a strike, a demonstration
... )
Il s'agit de préparer la
compréhension de « downstairs , a soup kitchen for the striking miners » .
Tool-box:
ballet ( donner le lexique nécessaire)
Faire
produire les élèves autour de « a ballet lesson »
Listen to what the coach says…
Why are the two lessons in the same place?
Faire retrouver : « a disgrace » et faire reformuler
-
Billy is a failure at boxing, despite his father's support and encouragements
-
His father is desperate, disappointed, because his son is good for nothing . He
is the shame of the family ,he is hopeless . His father is ashamed of him. He
realizes Billy is not that good at boxing not as good as he would like him to
be.
- Billy is not up to his father's expectations
.
Faire remarquer les chaussures bleues de Billy au milieu des blanches des
filles , et faire travailler le present perfect :
He has joined the girls , he is no
longer with the boys.
He
is attracted by dancing , interested in
music, in the lady's teaching .
It's
probably because he's got a liking for dancing, since there is a piano .
He seems to be fond of music, we have
already noticed that he could play
the piano .
Montrer la scène jusqu'à « a
challenge » , et arrêter après que Mme Wilkinson lui donne des chaussures de danse
Seance 2
Retour et présentation des recherches sur Durham 1984 : prise de parole en continu, mini exposé, prise de notes pour élaboration
de la trace écrite .
Description et
commentaire d’une affiche de l’époque des conflits au Pays de Galle, intitulé Women with miners in Wales . L’objectif
est de faire situer l’événement dans le temps et dans l’histoire sociale, à
partir des informations contenues dans les documents étudiés à la maison. La
question des non grévistes a été étudiée avec l’article de Newsweek (cf annexe )
Visionner
le départ du car des « scabs »
-
donner une `tool
box ` avec le lexique de la grève : demonstrators, riots,
to go on strike, a picket line,
to protest ...
+ a strike‑ breaker = a
scab, a traitor .
Consigne : watch this scene and say who the three
groups of people are .
-The strikers,
- the police,
- and the third group who can’t afford to leave their jobs
Mettre la scène en regard avec celle de la pirouette ,
pour réactiver le thème de la détermination : fight for, be determined
Two different
ways of fighting :
-
the father fights for his job
-
Billy fights for his art. He has his own fight with the same determination.
No matter how…Whenever…He is so eager to
succeed that he practises, he trains in his dreams.
SEANCE 3
1. Démarrer aux consignes du prof : ' one, two
, three ...'
Le père
découvre que son fils fait de la danse et non de la boxe .
faire émerger l'idée d'harmonie
brisée par l'arrivée du père : ‑ Billy is in the middle of the dancers, he is doing well, he
is in harmony with the others . This harmony is broken by the intrusion of his
father .
Billy freezes (with surprise ) , he is
petrified, he is caught red-handed , he is awe-stricken . He can't believe his
eyes . He wonders how his father managed to discover his secret .
His father looks furious, out of his
mind, mad with rage , wild . His blood is boiling .
The little girls are under the shock
too, they look frightened, they see him as an intruder, nobody has ever dared
to intrude upon their lesson . Then , they find him ridiculous and they giggle .
2.
Suite de la scène: Le conflit entre le père et le fils.
1°consigne Demander de décrire les
réactions des personnages ( partir des productions des élèves, et le
enrichir vers: )
Billy: he freezes (with surprise) , he is
petrified, he is caught red‑handed , he is awe‑stricken . He can't
believe his eyes . He wonders how his father managed to discover his secret .
His father : he looks furious, out of
his mind, mad with rage , wild . His blood is boiling .
The little girls : they are under the shock too, they look frightened, they see
him as an intruder, nobody has ever dared to intrude upon their lesson . Then
they find him ridiculous and they giggle .
mettre en pause après l'échange de regards père / fils, et l'ordre donné
par le père : 'go
out'
2° consigne : Concentrate on the PICTURES and on the movements of the camera .
On veut montrer que la scène est filmée comme un combat .
Analyse the technique
the
camera moves from one face to the other so as to stress, to enhance the conflict .
The movements of the camera match the short sentences . The scene looks like a duel
.How could you qualify the atmosphere ?
The camera moves even closer
when the tension grows: close ‑ups on
the faces .
Compare the father’s attitude and the son’s . .
There
is a contrast between the sons attitude and the father's :
-
if Billy looks determined, self‑controlled, collected, composed,
ready to stand up to his father, to answer back, to defend his cause…..
-….his father on the contrary is so outraged , that he stammers .He is mad
with rage, out of his wits.
Le
conflit entre le père et le fils ( 2ème
visionnement)
Listen to the words and pick out the main arguments of the two
protagonists .
Billy His
father
'what's wrong about it ?' 'normal ? '
' it's
perfectly normal' '
for your nana,
‘I
don’t see what’s wrong with for
girls, not for lads '
ballet . ‘ 'lads do football, or boxing,
or
wrestling , not ballet '
Faire
reformuler à partir des relevés .
They don't see eye to eye, they disagree;
they are at each other's throats .
The father sticks to stereotypes; he is
narrow‑ minded, he has blinkers, he refuses to adapt to the evolution of
society . He would like his son to walk in his footsteps .
But he has no argument to support his view,
he is short of arguments, he is at a loss for arguments . Eventually, he
resorts to violence , which proves that he is at a dead end and that the law of
the strongest prevails .
Amener à l'opposition entre « athlete »
et « poofs » .
Faire un arrêt sur image sur le visage du père , qui est très
mal à l'aise .
He
is choking, he would like to say something, but he daren't
NOW LISTEN FOR THE FINAL ARGUMENT : “It's not just poofs” et faire
trouver ou donner des équivalents : gays, homosexuals
Faire
reformuler : ‑he
objects
to his son having ballet lessons,
besides, he can't afford to waste 50p on either boxing or ballet lessons , (to
throw money down the drain )
‑ Billy can't control himself, he
becomes violent: Listen to what he says: “I hate you, you
are a bastard” Why ?
‑ he is outraged; moreover his father has
insulted (abused) his grandmother, and that's too much for him . Billy thinks
he has gone too far, it's the last straw
.
Fin de la scène : afficher l'image : « miners
strike now ».
On l'utilise - pour un exercice d'expression orale, en
évaluation,
- pour faire réutiliser par les élèves le lexique de la
rage, de la violence,
- et aussi pour l'interprétation de l'implicite contenu dans
cette image : le rejet du monde dans lequel il vit
SEANCE 4: AT THE ROYAL ACADEMY
( ETUDE DE LA DERNIERE SEQUENCE)
Visionner l'
ensemble de la séquence , (8 mn ), à la fin de la
séance 4
Consigne
: Watch this long scene, make notes of
what you see , and get ready to sum up where the scene is set and what happens
.
Mise en commun ; guider la production des élèves vers
Both father and son are impressed by the place
• they feel out of
place, they feel that they don't belong .
• all this
contributes to making Billy feel ill at ease, awkward : he feels like running
away ; his father prevents him from escaping, he makes him stay and try his
luck .
The audition itself :
• Billy is so
impressed and panic‑stricken that he can't breathe, he is paralysed in
front of these solemn tutors .
• He feels awkward, he does not dance very
well.
• He is unable to show what he can do, he has
lost confidence, he looks vulnerable .
In the changing room
• He is exhausted,
about to cry , to burst into tears.
• He is
disappointed and cross : he realizes he has failed and wasted his time ; he
hasn't been up to everybody's expectations .
• A boy tries
to comfort him, to sympathize with him, but Billy shrugs him off then punches
him in the face .
• He is
summoned in front of the tutors and told off for his violent behaviour . Father
and son are interviewed .
TERMINER en projection continue
Listen to this interview : there are 5 stages in it . Try to identify them and pick out
words and phrases in each stage .
Réponses attendues :
- the rules of the
school : mutual respect, self disciplin, violence
cannot be tolerated
_ question to Billy : ‘why were you first
interested in ballet ?’
- question to the father : ‘are you a fan of the ballet ?’
- father’s answers : ‘no, not really’, ‘I am not an expert’ ;
- tutor’s final remark : ‘are you completely behind Billy ?’ + father’s answer :’ yes, of course
Travail sur l’implicite de la scene :
Billy is intimidated,at a loss for words.
He feels uneasy,
tense , unconfortable . He does not know what to say, he is worried about what
his father might say.
On the contrary, his father is supportive, he does his best
to look and to sound convinced . He makes a good show of himself .He looks less
uncomfortable than we could expect.
The conclusion we can draw from this : He does not let
down his son, he has accepted Billy’s passion and he is ready to support him
now .
The last question they ask Billy before he leaves : ‘What does it feel
like when you’re dancing ?’
Listen to Billy and pick out the 10 key-words in his answer .
Réponses attendues : -dunno - feels good - forget everything - sort of disappear
- a change...body - fire - flying - a bird
- electricity - electricity
Reformulation : -First , he is at a loss for words once again.
-
Then , he manages to voice his feelings, to
express his genuine feelings . (It’s the first time he has managed to express
his deep feelings, he is not used to voicing his inner self ..)
Etape facultative (pour une bonne classe ou pour une classe de 1ère ou de terminale ):
How would you qualify the words used by Billy ? Are they abstract, poetic, concrete, basic common , sophisticated ?
On peut amener les élèves à trouver l’idée d’image ou de métaphore , à analyser les termes utilisés et leur pouvoir évocateur .
Visionner à nouveau : Look at the pictures and concentrate on the faces , so as to explain the evolution of the tutor’s reactions.
At
first, he is fed up with this silly
boy, but little by little,gradually, he becomes more and more interested .
Arrêter le visionnement juste au moment où Billy et son père se lèvent .
- Do you think Billy has got a chance to enter the Royal Academy ? Justify your point .
- Watch the end of the scene and say whether you confirm your point of view ; (there are three clues : ‘safe journey home’, ‘good luck with the strike ‘ , the soapy music )
Pistes pour une évaluation :
_ Quizz à partir du lexique étudié, des structures .
_ Reformulations à partir d’un énoncé donné .
_ Mots croisés à partir du lexique étudié ( cf annexes )
_ Essay : 2 sujets au choix : _ Imagine Billy’s life and his brother’s in the future .
_ Back in Durham, Billy tells his friend Michael about his journey to London and his interview at the Royal Academy .
I Cartes
de l’Angleterre et de Durham
II 1984 : The strikes
1984: The longest dispute
Coal Board Chairman Ian
McGregor said 20
uneconomic pits would
close
NUM president Arthur Scargill was one of the UK's most militant
union leaders
In March 1984, the longest and possibly most damaging industrial dispute
in British history began.
Tens of thousands of miners went on strike following an announcement by
Coal Board Chairman Ian McGregor that 20 uneconomic pits would have to close,
putting 20,000 miners out of work.
The year-long action was marred by violent confrontations at the picket
lines and caused great hardship in mining communities.
III Billy Elliot: main facts
Drama; 2000; 110 minutes; Color
Director: Stephen Daldry. The film is directed by Stephen Daldry, from a screenplay by Lee Hall, and produced by Greg Brenman and Jon Finn.
Natascha Wharton, Charles Brand, Tessa Ross and David M. Thompson serve as
executive producers. Brain Tufano is the
director of photography, with Maria Djurkovic as production designer,
John Wilson
as editor, Stewart Meachem as costume designer, Peter Darling as choreographer, and Stephen Warbeck as composer.
The life of 11-year old
Billy Elliot (Jamie Bell), a coal miner's son in Northern
England, is forever changed one day when he stumbles upon a ballet class during
his weekly boxing lesson. Before long he finds himself in dance, demonstrating
the kind of raw talent seldom seen by the class's exacting instructor, Mrs.
Wilkinson (Julie Walters). With a tart tongue and a never-ending stream
of cigarettes in her hand, Mrs. Wilkinson's zest for teaching is revived when
she sees Billy's potential. Rather forgetting the other ballerinas, she's drawn into teaching her
new protégé.
But Billy
must keep his participation in the class a secret from his widowed father (Gary Lewis) and overbearing brother (Jamie Draven), as both men are on strike
from their jobs at the mine, and are struggling just to keep food on the table.
Their pent up frustrations finally explode when they discover Billy has been
squandering his boxing money on less than manly pursuits.
Banned from
ballet, and troubled by the diminishing mental capacity of his grandmother (Jean Heywood), Billy finds solace with
his school friend Michael (Stuart Wells)
which deepens into a touching friendship. Meanwhile, Mrs. Wilkinson encourages
Billy to try out for the Royal Ballet School in London, where he can refine his
craft while escaping his oppressive surroundings.
But he is
torn between his responsibility to his family and to the gift with which he has
been blessed. For his overwhelming desire to dance is more than a means of
self-expression. It is his passion, and it is his destiny.
Working
Films and BBC Films in Association with the Arts Council of England present
Billy Elliot, the triumphant story of one boy whose unexpected love of dance
helps him to overcome poverty and prejudice, and ultimately achieve his dream.
Selected Awards:
2001 British Academy Awards: Alexander Korda Award for
Best British Film;
Best Actor (Bell);
Best
Supporting Actress (Walters)
2001
Academy Awards Nominations: Best Supporting Actress (Walters), Best
Director, Best Writing, Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen .
2001
British Academy Awards Nominations: Best Film, Best Cinematography,
Best Editing, Best Screenplay, Best Sound, Best Music, Best Supporting Actor
(Lewis).