Song For A Raggy Boy details
| Format: | 15 DVD |
|---|---|
| Starring: | Marc Warren, Aidan Quinn, Dudley Sutton, Ian Glen, Marc Warren |
| Director: | Aisling Walsh |
| Genre: | Drama - General |
| Name | Discs | |
|---|---|---|
Song For A Raggy Boy |
15 Feature |
DVD Information
| Run time: | 1 hour 33 minutes |
|---|---|
| Rental release: | Not currently released |
| Main languages: | English |
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Most helpful review
A true story which you should not miss!
By Jim from Bromsgrove UK , 23 Dec 2004[Highly rated reviewer]
Well you only need to see the first ten minutes to decide that William Franklin was a brilliant teacher. Set in 1930?s Ireland Aidan Quinn brilliantly portrays this civil war fighter turned schoolteacher who joins a reform school run by the Catholic Church and its priests.
He soon finds that the majority of the boys cannot read or write and have been locked away in this ?prison school? for minor offences such as truancy and theft or have been abandoned by their parents. Pity these schools cannot be revived in today?s yob culture society of political correctness and if you touch me I?ll sue you. Not saying that I condone what these priests did, there is plenty of sexual & physical abuse in the film something that the Catholic Church has only recently admitted to have gone on within their organisation. But certainly some children ? teenagers these days could do with a spell of national service or have a spell in reform schools like this to teach them some manners and discipline.
Ian Glen plays the brutal bully priest who will give the boys the hiding of their life just for the sake of it and just because he is the prefect, another excellent portrayal of a priest who borders on psychotic beats up children and thinks it?s justified if he says few prayers.
Aisling Walsh directors this wonderful film with some well known faces who all play their part in making this true story even more believable and leaves you angry and wanting justice to be done or just to give the priests a good smack in the mouth.
The boys are all new to acting and judging by their performances some have got long and lucrative careers ahead of them.
A film that somehow got overlooked by the Oscars & Baftas but is a must see!- Was this review helpful to you?
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(51)Story worth telling
By a customer from Rugby , 02 Feb 2010Some true stories do need telling in books and movies. Although this was tough to watch it is worth enduring it. It's hard not to concentrate solely on the wicked abuse of power side of the story. It's hard to understand why the Cathlolic church covered its abuses for so long.- Was this review helpful to you?
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Quite a sad film
By James from Brighton , 06 Dec 2007Quite a sad film but i guess it needed to be made to show what life was like for those who had to endure irelands young offender camps back in the early 1900's. Well made, it flowed well and covered in documentry film making way the attrocities of what went on without being too heavy for the viewer. If you like true sad stories u may like this one. get the tissues out.- Was this review helpful to you?
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Powerful Drama - Beautifully Acted
By Buzios (210 reviews) from Portsmouth, UK , 12 Feb 2007This is a grim and shocking tale of a Catholic Reformatory school in 1930s Ireland. Based on a true story this documents physical, mental and sexual abuse of boys by the priests that run the school. Aidan Quinn is brilliant as the teacher returning from the Spanish Civil War to teach in the school and stand up against the brutal regime in defence of the boys. Sad, tragic and shocking but very, very good.- Was this review helpful to you?
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A moving experience
By Stiofan (38 reviews) from Oxford , 17 Jan 2007This is a harrowing, moving drama which, like 'The Magdalene Sisters' and 'Evelyn' depicts the abuse that went on in Irish institutions run by the Catholic church. This one is set in a boys' reform school in 1939 and pits Aidan Quinn, the new teacher who fought in the Spanish Civil War, against Iain Glen, the sadistic priest in charge of discipline. Quinn as Franklin manages to bring out the best in the boys even as they are being mentally, physically and sexually abused by some of the priests and others are helping to cover it up. The acting is uniformly good from the established players and from the boys who had mostly not acted before which makes them much more believable than child actors. The music is a bit syrupy but this is a good film based on real people and is well worth seeing.- Was this review helpful to you?
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Compelling yet Disturbing
By Mark Wilson from Manchester, England , 24 Nov 2006An excellent film, depicting life in a catholic boys borstel in 1930's Ireland The film deals with the serious physical and sexual abuse suffered by the boys and how the good inside them can be brought out with love and affection. The acting from Aidan Quinn is heartwarming, and true. A great film, definately worth a watch.- Was this review helpful to you?
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