Song For A Raggy Boy

A grim and miserable tale of relentless brutality, rape and buggery in an Irish industrial school, Song For A Raggy Boy was never likely to be a bucket of belly-laughs. Taken from the autobiographical book of the same name by novelist Patrick Galvin, and based on his own unbelievably grim experiences during an upbringing in the less-than-idyllic setting of St. Jude’s Reformatory School, Raggy Boy – the feature debut for native director Aisling Walsh – provides a worthy and sympathetic treatment of its subject, and has already won the Golden Swan at the Copenhagen International Film Festival.

A non-clergy teacher (Aidan Quinn) is hired at a Catholic reformatory school-cum-concentration camp near a small village in 1939, shortly after his wife has been killed during the Spanish Civil War, where they were both fighting on the side of the Communists. He encounters a regime of medieval cruelty, where sexual and physical abuse is commonplace. Something of an inspirational Dead Poets Society figure, Quinn’s character sticks up for his charges and even has the temerity to confront the odd paedophile priest. Conflicts ensue, with seismic consequences…

Galvin himself co-wrote the script, and no-one could dispute Raggy Boy’s evident sincerity and whole-heartedness. As with previous movies on the theme, however – most notably Tim Roth’s War Zone – the unyielding harshness of the enterprise threatens to overwhelm it on occasion, and there aren’t likely to be many punters emerging with any immediate intention of repeat viewings.

It’s an affecting tale, well-told, an interesting companion piece to The Magdalene Sisters, and a deserving addition to the ranks of abuse movies. Not exactly anyone’s idea of a fun night out, though.