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Song for a Raggy Boy

Song for a Raggy Boy

Drama · History · 2003

William Franklin 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, who is a firm believer in strong discipline.

Movie details

Song for a Raggy Boy

“Four walls. One faith. No identity.”

2003 Drama · History 1h 34m

Critical arithmetic

One number, for now.

TMDB

7.3 / 10

Community rating

William Franklin 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, who is a firm believer in strong discipline.

CriticWise case file

What this film says about your taste.

Not a recommendation score. A measure of how closely the film’s taste signals resemble yours.

The archetype split

Who fights over Song for a Raggy Boy?

The split comes from the same five-axis model used by the test, not audience ratings or review sentiment.

Taste neighbourhood

Nearby on the taste map.

TMDB supplies the candidates. CriticWise reorders them by craft, strangeness, prestige, emotion, and pace.

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Names above the title

The people responsible.

Directed by

Aisling Walsh

Written by

Kevin Byron Murphy · Patrick Galvin · Aisling Walsh

Aidan Quinn

Aidan Quinn

William Franklin

Iain Glen

Iain Glen

Brother John

Marc Warren

Marc Warren

Brother Mac

Dudley Sutton

Dudley Sutton

Brother Tom

Alan Devlin

Alan Devlin

Father Damian

Stuart Graham

Stuart Graham

Brother Whelan

B

Bernard Manning

Rogers 855

Court is in session

Put Song for a Raggy Boy on trial.

Two incompatible taste archetypes. One film. Read the arguments, then issue a completely binding cultural ruling.

The defence The Prestige Tourist

“Ambition earns the room.”

The film reaches for consequence and scale, accepting the risk of seriousness instead of shrinking from it.

The prosecution The Popcorn Loyalist

“Importance has entered the chat.”

The production keeps announcing its significance, as though awards-season posture were proof of insight.