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54 of 57 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
tender and true, February 23, 2005
This lovely little Irish film shines through the talent and beauty of its great ensemble of actors, bittersweet story, and intelligent script. Extraordinarily gifted Shawn Hatosy is perfect as youthful Irish author Brendan Behan (whose autobiographical book inspired this affecting movie). He was arrested for entering England as an IRA operative and sentenced to Borstal, a juvenile reformatory which is run by a most sympathetic Michael York. In fact, a hallmark of this film is its humanity (contrast this with the nastiness of ANY prison film made in the US).
Brendan meets Charlie, a young, openly gay sailor. The two take a shine to one another, but it is a while before Brendan can come to terms with loving another boy. When he finally does it is one of the tenderest moments on screen, and all too short-lived. He says later that he came to England because of hate, but he learned to love.
There are many wonderful moments with all the diverse boys (pink-cheeked Robin Laing is outstanding as a young Scot), and heartbreaking ones as well. The speech is sometimes problematic, as it is highly colloquial and heavily accented, but it is not really an obstacle. The film is logical and clear. I wanted to watch this beautiful story several times anyway, and was rewarded with a deeper understanding of much more than dialogue each time.
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20 of 21 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Wonderful movie but a dissappointing DVD package..., November 17, 2002
"Borstal Boy" is based on the book written by Irish playwriter/novelist Brendan Behan about his experiences in a British reform school (borstal) in 1930's. During this incarceration, as potrayed in the film, we see the young writer transformed from a creature of hate to one who realises that "love is much stronger than hate". I especially like the use of silent moments that convey more emotions that any line of dialogue. Special mention has to go to the main lead, Shawn Hatosy, who briliantly played his character. His potrayal of Brendan exudes quiet nobility as well as a touch of the rouge in the main protagonist. Definately his best performance so far and an indication of the potential of this young actor. The DVD package itself is quite simplistic with trailers of other Strand Releasing DVDs in as additional material on the disk. I wished that they would have a subtitle/captioning option as the movie uses a lot of Irish and British accents that are hard to make out sometimes. The sound quality is a bit on the dissapointing side as this DVD transfer only had mono sound on it. It's very distracting trying to figure out what they are saying especially when they don't have captioning. Good thing that the picture quality is clear and sharp for this transfer. My final grade for this movie is 5 stars for the film but 3 stars for this DVD package. This DVD is definitely a keeper for those who enjoyed reading "Angela's Ashes" as well as "At Swim, Two Boys". If you have the chance to see this release in a theater, don't miss it as the sound experience is much better than this DVD. Or else you have to just make do with a dissappointing DVD package of a great movie.
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16 of 17 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Borstal Boy, April 27, 2005
This gem caught me by surprise, not having heard of it before.
It always amazes me how English (Irish) movies have such fine acting...the ring of truth abounds in this feel-good love story.
I watched again and again, each time tears abounding.
Another surprise is the theme song written by Peter O'toole and performed by Hot House Flowers...Excellent and touching. Highly recommended for the open-minded viewer seeking a warm, unusual love story.
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