Song for a Raggy Boy

A great film made brilliant by the sheer power of acting. I have never experienced anything quite like it. We have here a film, a story, so convincingly told that something inside me wishes it were not true and that the abuse of authority that this film exposes does not still exist in the political and religious leaders of toady. The story is that of Franklin, a teacher in an Irish reformatory school who takes up the cause of the ill treated and neglected children being brutalised by Brother John, a rising star in the catholic church hierarchy, with the tacit approval of the other brothers, each labouring over their own guilty secrets. Of course the story is a harrowing one, and does not spare the viewers feelings, at times I wondered why I was putting myself through this gruelling history lesson, but than I knew, that guiding me through the film, like a guardian angel, is the consumate acting of absoutly all the cast. I knew they would see me through. Aidan Quinn and Iain Glen are magnificently convincing both giving the best perfprmances of their careers to date. The young boys are all wonderful in their roles. Their acting is pure realism, such mature performances from young teenagers are a glowing tribute to the directing of Aisling Walsh

After reading the other review that totally thrashed this excellent piece of film i felt i just had to write one.

This is really an excellent piece of film. Easily one of the best films of 2003.

It's about a group of boys in an Irish Reformatory School in 1939 who one days gets a new teacher who opposes the violent and harsh ways the "brothers" use to dicipline the boys.

The performances are more than excellent, and the young characters are played out so well by the boys.

If you haven't seen this wonderful film, do so right now! It has recently been released on DVD in Scandinavia. So there's no excuse now.

Saw this at Tribeca Film Festival and was genuinely moved by the power and passion of the story, the acting and above all the directing. The filmmakers took care to show each person as a combination of good and bad.The casting of the kids was outright fabulous. Aidan Quinn was born to play this part and brings to his acting a deepfelt conviction of righting certain wrongs with tremendous power and feeling.

The catalogue of abuse perpetrated by the clergy in Ireland against the children in their care has long been in the public domain. Tentatively only now is the cinema beginning to address the issue, firstly with Peter Mullan's "The Magdalene Sisters", which wavered between broad comedy and tragedy to disconcerting effect and now with Aisling Walsh's superb "Song for a Raggy Boy", an altogether bleaker affair; indeed at times this is virtually unwatchable so intense is the brutality it depicts.

Aidan Quinn is the first lay-teacher in an Irish reform school run by the Christian Brothers, (hardly an apt term), in the Ireland of 1939. The system of abuse he encounters is so all encompassing that he seems powerless to do anything about it despite winning the approval of the boys. This is a deeply troubling, (and in the end, very moving) film beautifully directed by the young Irish director Aisling Walsh whose lack of technique is all the more unsettling.

It is also superbly played, in particular by the boys, non-professionals all and by Quinn, Iain Glen as the sadistic and evil brother at the centre, Marc Warren as the weak-willed, sexually driven brother, (his is the most emotionally complex character), and by that great and undervalued British actor Dudley Sutton. Flashbacks to Quinn's part in the Spanish Civil War may be ill-judged but this remains a spare, unsettling film which should be mandatory viewing for Catholics everywhere.

I cannot believe some of the negative comments about this film. The acting is strong from the whole cast, including the children and that is a rarity these days. It touches on the awful side of Irish Catholic reform schools and the brutality and abuse depicted here is authentic and true, based on accounts and evidence which has come to light in recent years. It is emotional at times and hard to take but this is a superb film and its comparisons with films such as Dead Poet's are justified. 9 out of 10, not quite perfect but very close. The acting is brilliant and Iain Glenn and Aidann Quinn stand out as do the two main boys in the story. You may be shocked and appalled by some of the scenes but it is worth watching and was one of the best films of 2003.