Song for a Raggy Boy 2003 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, many boys being still illiterate, but gradually earns their trust, respect, in time almost devotion, with paternal kindness, making the layman 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 even class rebel Liam Mercier is turned around, trough his gift for literature After Franklin dares stop the sadists penny weighted strap severely striking sinful scum for a futility, the whole dorm is treated to an icy night outdoors, arms outstretched wearing only shorts Brother Macs mind may mean to educate well, his flesh is too weak for celibacy, so the coy, pretty new boy becomes his latest pederastic lust object, sworn to suffer sodomy in silence even devoutly confessing to Father ODriscoll his fear to have lost his innocence during painful rape costs him an endless cold shower, shivering stark naked before his tormentor Constructing a nativity stall for the village church allows Franklins class to grow close, have fun and earn praise, but after the Peters brothers cross the forbidden red lines to hug each other on Christmas night across the wall separating the age sections, John punishes their blasphemous abomination by publicly flogging their bare backs to bloody pulp till Franklin arrives Still the prefect is capable of viler abuse Liam, who sent a boy to get Franklin and received a book with dedication from that communist, privately gets the sturdy strap in the face till even secret blackmailed brother Mac cant watch the orgy of child abuse any more, but now Franklin arrives so late