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Borstal Boy main poster

Borstal Boy

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6.2/10 • 44

2001-03-221h 28m

Drama

Based on Irish poet Brendan Behan's experiences in a reform school in 1942. A 16 year-old Irish republican terrorist arrives on the ferry at Liverpool and is arrested for possession of explosives. He is imprisoned in a Borstal in East Anglia, where he is forced to live with his would-be enemies, an experience that profoundly changes his life.

Directors
Peter Sheridan
Writters
Peter Sheridan, Nye Heron
Editors
Peter Sheridan, Nye Heron, Stephen O'Connell

Top Billed Cast

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  1. Shawn Hatosy

    Shawn Hatosy

    Brendan Behan

  2. Danny Dyer

    Danny Dyer

    Charlie Milwall

  3. Robin Laing

    Robin Laing

    Jock

  4. Ian McElhinney

    Ian McElhinney

    Verreker

  5. Eva Birthistle

    Eva Birthistle

    Liz Joyce

  6. Mark Huberman

    Mark Huberman

    Mac

  7. Lee Ingleby

    Lee Ingleby

    Dale

  8. Ronnie Drew

    Ronnie Drew

    Customs man

  9. Eamon Glancy

    Eamon Glancy

    Manning

Reviews1

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CinemaSerf Avatar

CinemaSerf

Jan 22, 2025

7/10

When Brendan Behan (Shawn Hatosy) arrives in Liverpool with a bag full of explosives amidst WWII, he's promptly caught and sent to a youth detention facility in Norfolk. It's run by a fair and open-minded warden (Michael York) who advises his inmates to behave themselves and all will be fine. That's easier said than done, though, as this confirmed Irish republican is not going to naturally fit in with his cohorts. One exception might be navy man Charlie Milwall (Danny Dyer) with whom he becomes quite thick. What now ensues combines a frequently toxic mix of politics, bullying and fluid sexuality with their determination to escape and a degree of humanity and some dark, wartime, humour as the coming-of-age genre takes on a different, less predictable, direction. There are gay undertones, but they are not laboured as the story depicts a broader group of lads who are lost, abandoned by family and society and rudderless - and an engaging rapport between Hatosy and Dyer emerges helping to illustrate that not everyone here knows what the war is for or, indeed, is fighting the same one. It's gritty and the dialogue is honest and ripe without becoming overwhelmingly aggressive or repetitive and by the close these two men came across as decent and honourable. Worth a watch.

Media

  • Borstal Boy poster
  • Borstal Boy poster
  • Borstal Boy poster

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Status
Released
Original Language
English
Budget
$100,000.00
Revenue
$87,400.00
Keywords
homophobiabullyingliverpool, englandcoming of agecross dressingaccidental deathira (irish republican army)based on memoir or autobiographyteenage boyreform schoolnorfolk1940sborstalgay themegay teenager