Song for a Raggy Boy (2003)

Song for a Raggy Boy (2003) (DVD) (*)

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Screened, competed or awarded at:
Other Film Festival Awards

Language Selections:
English ( Dolby Digital Stereo )

Product Origin/Format:
United Kingdom ( PAL/Region 2 )

Running Time:
93 min

Aspect Ratio:
Widescreen (1.78:1)

Special Features:
Interactive Menu
Scene Access

Movie filmed in 2003 and produced in:
Denmark ( Scandinavia, Iceland )
Ireland ( Great Britain, Ireland )
Spain ( Spain, Portugal )
United Kingdom ( Great Britain, Ireland )

Directed By:
Aisling Walsh

Written By:
Patrick Galvin
Kevin Byron Murphy

Actors:
Aidan Quinn ..... William Franklin
Iain Glen ..... Brother John
Marc Warren ..... Brother Mac
Dudley Sutton ..... Brother Tom
Alan Devlin ..... Father Damian
Stuart Graham ..... Brother Whelan
John Travers ..... Liam Mercier 636
Chris Newman ..... Patrick Delaney 743
Andrew Simpson ..... Gerard Peters 458
Mark Butler ..... Downey 913
Bernard Manning ..... Rogers 855
Samuel Bright ..... Ryan 126
Robert Sheehan ..... O Reilly 58
Caoimhin 'Tojo' Barry Doherty ..... Murphy 338
Michael McGee ..... Lynch 76

Synopsis:

A teacher takes on the corrupt leadership of an Irish reform school in this drama based on a true story. William Franklin (Aidan Quinn) is a teacher who was born in Ireland and moved to the United States only to repatriate in 1939 after his leftist political views cause him to lose his job. Franklin becomes the first non-cleric instructor at St. Jude's, a school for wayward boys run by Brother John Iain Glen, who is a firm believer in strong discipline. But Franklin comes to believe the students are being treated with excessive force, with many of the children severely punished for trivial violations of the rules, and some treated as delinquents for the crime of not having parents. As Franklin campaigns for more humane treatment of his charges, he makes a powerful enemy in Brother John, who responds to Franklin's reform efforts with greater vehemence against the students, in particular Mercier (John Travers), an inquisitive child who has become a favorite of Franklin. Franklin's distrust of Brother John's regime reaches a high point when a new student informs him that he was sexually assaulted by one of the clerics. Song for a Raggy Boy was adapted from the memoir by Patrick Galvin, who also helped adapt his story for the screen.

The film is set in 1939, on the brink of World War II, in the St. Judes Reformatory School, a ruthless Irish school for boys. Grey, gloomy and ruled by the sadistic Brother John (Iain Glen), the school prefers punishment to rehabilitation. But new lay teacher William Franklin (Aidan Quinn), fresh from the frontline of the Spanish Civil War, fights to liberate the boys from their oppressors. Two young boys have key roles in the film. Patrick Delaney 743 (Chris Newman) arrives at the school aged 13 and a half. He, like all the boys, is allocated a number which the brothers use. Franklin, however, always uses the boys' names. Delaney is an attractive boy and he receives the unwelcome attentions of a paedophile brother, Brother Mac (Marc Warren), who molests and rapes the boy in the school toilets. The boy tells of his ordeal to a visiting priest in confession only to be told not to say a word to anyone. Word of Delaney's confession reaches Brother Mac who punishes the boy by forcing him under a cold shower naked, then giving him his clothes so they are also wet. The other boy is Liam Mercier 636 (John Travers). Mercier is one of the few boys who can read and write, but is otherwise a hard case. Franklin befriends the boy and interests him in poetry, some of it written by communist sympathisers. Mercier and Franklin both challenge the authority of Brother John - Mercier by trying to stop the vicious beating of two brothers, and Franklin by stepping in and actually stopping the whipping. Brother John loses control and, having tricked Mercier into coming out of class, beats him continuously in front of Brother Mac in the refectory. Franklin is eventually told by Brother Mac that Mercier is in the refectory after which Franklin discovers Mercier's dead body. He carries the corpse out of the room. Livid, Franklin attacks Brother John, calling him a murderer. At Mercier's funeral Franklin tells the other boys that his death was murder, before kissing the coffin. After Brothers John and Mac are taken away, Franklin decides he has to leave the school, but is persuaded to stay at the last minute by Delaney reciting a moving poem across the playground. Franklin drops his bags and, in a touching final scene, Delaney runs towards Franklin and jumps up to hug him while all the other boys gather round in love and affection for their saviour.

Utterly disillusioned after fighting for the communists in the Spanish Civil War, teacher William Franklin (Aiden Quinn) returns home to Ireland and takes work at reform school St Jude's. But his homecoming proves no more comforting than his war-time experiences, when he discovers that the boys live constantly under the threat of sexual and physical abuse. So armed with only his poetry and fierce sense of morality, Franklin begins another battle, this time against the school's brutal regime.

This product was added to our catalog on Friday 15 February, 2013.

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