In 1939 William Franklin, an anti-Franco veteran of the bloody Spanish Civil War, arrives as first-ever lay teacher in a strict Catholic Reformatory and Industrial School for wayward boys. He soon learns the academic challenge is formidable, with many boys still being illiterate, but gradually earns their trust, respect, and in time almost devotion, making him the opposite of the cruel prefect, brother John, who frequently administers painful and humiliating punishments. Even the gentle, old superior Father Damian has no authority against his disciplinary mandate from the grim bishop Conlon. Slowly, the boys’ lives, including the class rebel Liam Mercier, are turned around, through their gift and love of literature.
Director:
Aisling Walsh
Year:
2003
Country:
UK
Cast:
Aidan Quinn, Iain Glen, Marc Warren
Classification:
16
Certification:
VS