The final scene - Billy Elliot (2000) Discussion

[–] supergran 12 years ago

It makes the hairs on the back of my neck stand on end! Sublime ending.

(Hi RC. Remember you from the N&S board. )

- What kind of sycophant are you?
- What kind of sycophant would you like me to be?

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[–] youjik33 11 years ago

I was too distracted by his goofy feather-pants and the fact that he didn't look anything like Jamie Bell actually looks nowadays to really appreciate it...

I did like the look of pride and astonishment on his dad's face though. Something about the end felt vaguely weird to me though. Maybe just the fact that I have no idea what role he was even dancing. Were they putting on a gender-flipped version of Swan Lake or something?

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[–] PotassiumMan 11 years ago

The final scene is very touching and I would call it one of the best endings I've ever seen in a film.

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[–] [email protected] (1288) 7 years ago

I wish we saw a bit more of him dancing at the end.

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[–] blufftoni 11 years ago

They were referencing the Matthew Bourne choreographed version of Swan Lake which was considered controversial as it has all of the swans being played by male dancers.

The actor/dancer playing the adult Billy was Adam Cooper who created the role of the lead swan in that particular production.

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[–] felix-fds 10 years ago

Thank you very much for the explanation!
I didn't get why he was dancing the "leading" part either.

________________
I'm so confused!

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[–] [email protected] (1288) 7 years ago

It was fabulous

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[–] hodie 11 years ago

Youjik33, I thought I was the only one. Those feathered pantaloons!

"Joey, have you ever been in a Turkish prison?"

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[–] DamianGein 11 years ago

I agree, that scene was great though I agree that the adult version of Billy didn't look nothing like Jamie same to Michael. But I still liked the scene.

Esta es mi firma

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[–] dslacker 11 years ago

It will never happen - but it would be great to see Jamie Bell go back and perform the final scene now that he's old enough to play it.

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[–] veronicawindle 11 years ago

was like icing on the cake when you see it's Swan Lake :)

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[–] nnenok 9 years ago

I thought the grown-up Michael looked like a clone of the 11-year old version, I was actually very impressed with the casting. But I do agree about Billy :)

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[–] Agnieszka_102 11 years ago

I cried like a baby :) An absolutely wonderful movie!

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[–] steve-1241 11 years ago

Billys mate from school with the hat on, was he gay?

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[–] Erin-Leigh-14 10 years ago

oh yes, quite.

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[–] lulu909 11 years ago

Just finished watching it for probably the 20th time and am crying like a baby. I love this movie and had not seen it in a couple of years. Glad I caught it flipping through the channels :)

I agree...wonderful ending. Perfect.

"although I laugh and I act like a clown, beneath this mask I am wearing a frown..."

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[–] kloklo_87 10 years ago

I was wondering something else. Where was his mentor in the final scene? Or her daughter perhaps?

In any case something that many have missed is that the actor playing the adult billy won a tony for his performance in swan lake in 1999.

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[–] palisade-1 10 years ago

Where was his mentor in the final scene?

IIRC, Julie Walters, the actress who plays Mrs. Wilkinson, Billy's ballet teacher, was originally supposed to appear in the final scene, along with Billy's Dad and Tony (Michael was there too, but separately one assumes). There was some reason she could not appear when that scene was filmed; I don't recall now whether it was a conflict with another job, she was ill, or what, but that's the story so far as I know.

As for Debbie, she would have been grown and probably married by that time. It was a one-way crush in any case. Billy might not have invited her.

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[–] kloklo_87 9 years ago

thank you for your reply ;)

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[–] alexanderp-67-200285 10 years ago

I think that it would be much more better for the final scene if there was Mrs. Wilkinson (maybe with Debbie) instead of Michael with an unknown black man. Let alone that the appearance of Michael as an adult gay person was, IMHO, absolutely unnecessary in this film, which is actually not about sexuality problems.

On the other hand, the final scene shows a contrast between a boy who concentrated on his sexuality and a boy who concentrated on his vocation and a hard work to develope his talent. All we know about the former is that he became almost a woman (no matter what his occupation is); about the latter we know something much more important — that he became a great dancer, a winner, a real man after all, no matter even what his real sexual orientation is.

But, again, I believe that the film doesn't need comparisons of this sort; the final Billy's entrance — Billy's victory — is quite enough for the final scene.

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[–] mackay254 10 years ago

the appearance of Michael as an adult gay person was, IMHO, absolutely unnecessary in this film, which is actually not about sexuality problems.

The only 'problem' people like Michael have, is people like you!
Actually, scratch that. It's you that has the problem.

Great film. Great ending.

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[–] alexanderp-67-200285 10 years ago

I'm happy for you and for 'people like Michael' that their ONLY problem in this world is people who have their own view on the ‘Billy Elliot’'s finale.

And the point is that the central figure of the finale should be the film's protagonist, Billy, and not Michael, whose appearance, unexpected in every respect, becomes the focus of attention. To my way of thinking, what happened in the end to Michael as a gay is quite another (though maybe not less dramatic) story, which goes beyond this particular film. 'Billy Elliot', as I see it, is, ironically, about Billy Elliot and his steep and thorny way to his victory.

And do you not see here an overt irony: Billy became a man and Michael became a ‘woman’? Is this message a problem for real 'people like Michael', or is it not?

P.S. I assure you, it's absolutely not me who causes problems for 'people like Michael'; and the only problem I do have, excuse me, is people who know nothing about me and, nevertheless, tell me with certainty about my personal problems (in response to my thoughts about the film ‘Billy Elliot’). :)

P.P.S. All I wrote above doesn't change the fact that the film is really great.

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[–] mackay254 10 years ago

You wrote down what you thought:
You said Michael had a 'problem', you have now said he became 'the focus of attention' and that Michael became a 'woman'. All untrue.

What you have said reveals a narrow-minded individual. I'm not in a hurry to know you better.

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[–] alexanderp-67-200285 10 years ago

I'm not in a hurry to know you better.

Be sure, I'm absolutely fine with that unhurriedness of yours, Mr. All-Untrue. :) And if you were as deliberate in commenting and gauging people you don't understand, it would be incredibly greatly appreciated.

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[–] mackay254 10 years ago

Alexander, sexuality was pretty much in focus throughout this film. Ballet was for girls! Boys do boxing and football. Otherwise, why the protest from the father and brother? They saw it as a problem and were terrified that it would 'turn' Billy into a homosexual. The attitudes of the father and brother towards ballet changed. They realised they were being narrow-minded. They eventually helped Billy to fly and were proud that he could.

Michael's nature, even as a little boy, was a transvestite homosexual. That's what he grew up to be. That was not a problem for Billy. It seems to be for you. So much so, that when the vast majority of people remember the final scene for the tearful gasp of pride from Billy's dad, as Billy flies through the air, you're still obsessing about Michael!

Dad and Tony's attitudes were challenged by Mrs. Wilkinson; they changed.
Hopefully, by having your attitudes challenged, you might change too.
Live and let live.

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[–] alexanderp-67-200285 10 years ago

They saw it as a problem and were terrified that it would 'turn' Billy into a homosexual. The attitudes of the father and brother towards ballet changed.

Note, the attitudes that changed were towards ballet, not homosexuality (which they saw as a problem).

That was not a problem for Billy. It seems to be for you.

Why for me? I'm not a character of the film. It seems to be a problem for Michael, who lived among people like Billy's father and brother.

you're still obsessing about Michael

I don't obsess about Michael as a person with his specific sexual orientaion or gender identity; I look at him in the context of the film's script, namely its final part.

The grown-up Billy appearing on the theatre's stage is, truth be told, not a big surprise for us, since we believed in him and were absolutely sure of his success. Furthermore, his success as a ballet dancer is not essential for the story, which actually ends when Billy leaves the town.

And here I agree with zigfried-2 who said:

I always thought the ending was too literal and distorted the focus of the film. It really isn't about dancing or being successful. It is really about Billy's way out of a dying community and how that community realizes they must rally around the boy to help him to escape their fate. Whether Billy becomes a successful dancer is irrelevant; he has escaped that community, and his best friend Michael has not.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0249462/board/nest/201165778?d=235171320#235171320

The finale's surprise is Michael, whom we, together with Billy, left in the town and never expected to meet again (since the film is about quite another person—Billy). And when he all of a sudden appears among the audience, accidentally right next to Tony (and he looks apparently like he doesn't belong to a miners community anymore), it makes me think that the finale is actually about Michael, not Billy. (It's all clear with the latter, but there are many questions to the former.) This fact confuses me a bit; I believe it's a weakness of the script; and for this reason I've rated this beautiful film 1 star less.

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[–] mackay254 10 years ago

You have quoted my words in order to explain your stance. They have. You're a homophobe.
By the looks of it, Michael has got away from Etherington too. You prefer to believe that Michael is left behind, trapped and shunned!? How sad.

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[–] Erin-Leigh-14 10 years ago

i was actually pleased to see Michael grown up. Michael was a genuinely supportive friend to Billy, and it was nice to see that he had also become successful in his own way. he had clearly accepted himself for who he was, which is very difficult for many homosexuals/transvestites, and had found love (or at least companionship, since we aren't shown the extent of the relationship he has with the guy he's with) with another person. considering the bigotry Billy had to fight against simply to be allowed to dance, one can only imagine the bigotry Michael would have faced in that town, and i for one was happy to see that he became an openly gay man instead of a closeted, unhappy man. in my mind, i choose to believe that Michael was motivated by Billy's determination to be who he wanted to be, social expectations be damned, and that Billy was almost directly responsible for changing not only his own life for the better, but Michael's, as well.

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[–] nmitrione (293) 6 years ago

I thought that was odd too. They definitely should have had her in the final scene ... bickering with Billy's Brother in the audience.

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[–] zigfried-2 10 years ago

I always thought the ending was too literal and distorted the focus of the film. It really isn't about dancing or being successful. It is really about Billy's way out of a dying community and how that community realizes they must rally around the boy to help him to escape their fate. Whether Billy becomes a successful dancer is irrelevant; he has escaped that community, and his best friend Michael has not. I much prefer the bittersweet ending to the stage musical, where the last thing we see is Billy leaving for the Royal Ballet School and Michael sitting on his bike watching him go. The last lines, "See ya, Michael." Yeah, See ya, Billy." are so sad because we know they will not be seeing each other. Billy has made it out and Michael is stuck where he is, with little future except for mining.
The fact that the actor playing older BIlly in the film looks nothing like Jamie Bell is also rather jarring.

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[–] 10 years ago

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[–] supergran 8 years ago

Good post, zigfried. I understand what you mean about Billy's success being superfluous, but I look at it as being the icing on the cake. Those final scenes are very gratifying, and I'm glad I wasn't denied them.

Don't forget that Michael was still only 11. Plenty of time to escape. And coal mining would last only another ten years in the region.

Similarly, Billy was also 11 (although the actor was about 14). Fourteen years of hard training could very well transform the body of a prepubescent child into the powerful physique of Adam Cooper.

If there aren't any skeletons in a man's closet, there's probably a Bertha in his attic.

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[–] cele_mcr 8 years ago

"Billy Elliot" is one of my favourite movies of all time. About that ending, to me it is just perfect. For sure,it is one of the greatest and most beautiful endings I have ever seen in my entire life. I have seen this movie many many times and the ending gets me every time. The ending is truly full of emotions and very powerfull as well.

I must add, this movie should have a higher ranking on imdb.

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