Borstal Boy

Brendan Behan (Hatosy - who played the gay teen in In & Out) was a teen firebrand active in the Irish Republican Army during WWII. When he was 17, he was sent on a bombing mission to Liverpool where he was apprehended by the police. The police beat him up pretty badly and threw him in a jail cell with a gay teen, Charlie Milwall (Dyer). Charlie goes to Brendan´s bedside with a healing caress and kiss, which Brendan immediately rebuffs. Both boys were sent to a reform school in hostile England where they were befriended by a liberal warden played by a youthful looking Michael York. The school is packed with fresh faced Irish and English teenage boys and the expected sexual tension hovers over every scene. At first Brendan resists Charlie´s charms insisting that he is "not quare" but gradually he warms to Charlie´s charms and they tenderly kiss. Brendan is also being courted by the warden´s daughter and he slowly comes to realize that it is OK for him to love both boys and girls. Brendan´s realization that he is in love with a boy rocks his world and sets a course for his writing throughout his career.

This Irish/English film is splendid to look at, scored beautifully and packed with testosterone oozing teenage boys that should certainly get your juices going. The autobiographical film may even get you interested in reading Borstal Boy. A surprising treat of a film.

Upplagd i sortimentet: 29 Januari, 2009