Du er ikke alene (1978)

"Du er ikke alene" foregår på en efterskole for drenge. Den skildrer dels elevernes oprør mod den autoritære forstander, dels et kærlighedsforhold mellem en af drengene og forstanderens søn. Så opstår spørgsmålet: er drengene bare regulært venner, eller krydser de grænsen til så kontroversielt et begreb som kærlighed?

In a post-primary boys' boarding school, a nice but irresolute headmaster one day imposes his authority too harshly. He expels a boy for a petty offense, and a regular rebellion breaks out. At the same time, an attachment has been formed between another boy and the headmaster's son. Their relationship is soon seen as controversial: have the boys crossed the thin line between friendship and love?

DU ER IKKE ALENE (YOU ARE NOT ALONE, internationally) is a classic film from Denmark. It has probably shocked the world during its release but in time it has proven that it is indeed an extraordinary feature. It genuinely showcased the boys' innocent private scenes with the boys after school. A must see!

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Song for a Raggy Boy (2003)

A teacher takes on the corrupt leadership of an Irish reform school in this drama based on a true story. William Franklin (Aidan Quinn) 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 Father Damian (Alan Devlin), and assisted by Brother John (Iain Glen) who is a firm believer in strong discipline. But Franklin comes to believe the students are being treated with excessive force, with many of the children severely punished for trivial violations of the rules, and some treated as delinquents for the crime of not having parents. As Franklin campaigns for more humane treatment of his charges, he makes a powerful enemy in Brother John, who responds to Franklin's reform efforts with greater vehemence against the students, in particular Liam Mercier 636 (John Travers), an inquisitive child who has become a favorite of Franklin. Franklin's distrust of Brother John's regime reaches a high point when he learns that Patrick Delaney 743 (Chris Newman) was sexually assaulted by Brother Mac (Marc Warren), one of the clerics.

An award-winning and highly-acclaimed joint project from UK, Spain, Denmark & Ireland, SONG FOR A RAGGY BOY will surely make you feel bad even if you have a heart of stone. This carefully directed and brilliantly acted film clearly showed the cruelty of the past when "human rights" was still inexistent. I'll easily give it a perfect 10 although it broke my heart into pieces.

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