Sadly it's not an astonishing story in itself - only astonishing that human nature can be so cruel.

The film is based in an Irish reformatory school, run by the Catholic brethren in County Cork, where young boys are treated as prisoners and referred to by number.

A new teacher, Franklin (Quinn), arrives, burdened by his harrowing experiences in the Spanish Civil War - his communist tendencies and humanitarian attitude mark him out as a danger to Brother John's authority - played by Glen.

Before Franklin's arrival, Brother John runs the day to day activities of the school with an iron fist - which others turn a blind Christian eye to.

Forget guns and samurai swords, this man with his leather strap is the nastiest villian I've seen at the cinema in a long while.

Couple this brutality with the disturbing activities of Brother John's sidekick, Brother Mac (Warren), and his penchant for young boys and it's not hard to see how Franklin becomes such a hit with the boys.

He believes they all deserve to be taught how to read and write and only need encouragement and love in order to flourish, but his non-Catholic leanings and his closeness to the boys only causes trouble for those he's trying to help most.

A simple yet brutal tale, shot with the necessary dreariness, makes Song For A Raggy Boy compulsive but difficult viewing.

The cast put in some amazing performances, with Iain Glen coming across as a terrifyingly believable bully and Aidan Quinn as a thoughtful but haunted good guy.

But the cast of young Irish lads are faultless, with the two man boys, Mercier (Travers) and Delaney (Newman) showing particular talent - hopefully this won't be their first and last film.

Vic Saggers