The Boys of St. Vincent

[RJD]

I believe that was the title. I also believe that it was made in Canada and was based on a collection of true stories that were retold as one story. As I recall it was the first time my wife really understood the depth of my abuse and its after effects. She became tearful while I emotionally numbed out as the depicted traumas unfolded.

 

[michael Joseph]

that one effected me too.

my wife was also abused, but I was abused by the same sex over and over again.

 

Should I watch it? Will it help me in recovery?

 

[Mark C]

RJD is right about the film...it was produced in Canada and the Catholic Church saw to it that it was banned from being aired at first, but that was later undone.

As far as anyone watching the film....it definetly has the potential to trigger memories and some powerful feelings, so make sure you are ready, or have a good support group in place....but yes, it is very validating to see that other boys want through similar experiences as we did (unfortunately).

I was abused by a priest for several years and although I never lived in an orphanage...the similarities to my own abuse are frightening. This movie can usually be rented at most major video stores...like Blockbuster.

 

[Lightfang]

I was looking for this movie for about a year. I finally got it through my local library, which had to loan it from another library.

The movie is full of triggers, and brought tears to my eyes more than once.

I would suggest watching it but only if you feel secure enough in your healing and if you have a good support network in place in case it does trigger your emotions.

The full story takes place over a fifteen year span and is accualy two movies.

The first one goes into detail of the abuse itself. You are able to see what is going on without accualy seeing the actions. It shows the viewer the depth of the abuse and how difficult it is for young children to overcome years of programing. very difficult to watch because of the pain they went through.

The second movie is how some of the children now in adulthood are able to find a partial closer on the horror they faced as children. It "almost" made me and my wife feel sorry for the perp and what he was going through. But at the same time we felt very glad he was able to feel pain and missory for what he had done and allowed others to do to the children. Both my wife and I were glad to see his life fall apart around him as he tried despratly to hold on.

each movie is about 93 minutes long. I suggest finding the time to sit through both at the same time with very little intruptions.

Geo

 

[Richard Gartner PhD]

FYI I wrote an article that was reprinted in the NOMSV Newsletter and is now on this site (https://www.nomsv.org/articles/gartner1.htm) called "CInematic Depictions of Boyhood Sexual Victimization." In it I talk about 31 films and discuss Boys of St Vincents at some length. (Notte: I do reveal much of the plots in some of my discussions.)

Richard Gartner
NOMSV President

 

[Ross]

I just discovered this web site. My name is Ross and I am a Canadian. When I was a boy of 15 I was sentenced to a Catholic training school outside of Toronto Ontario Canada (Uxbridge Ontario). This school was run by the Chrisitan Brothers. I was sexually and physically abused by the Brothers and school staff and I am a validated claimant and settled with the Brothers in 1995.

The Christian brothers also ran Mt. Cashel Orphanage on the East Coast. The boys of St Vincent is a movie that depicts life in an Orphange called St. Vincent's and the abuse that took place there.

The movie, according to the forensic police team that interviewed me, was actually a compilation of events that happened at Mt. Cashel orphange, St John's Training school and St. Joseph's Training school.

Catholic residential training schools were youth correctional facilities run by the Christian Brothers. They were known as the roughest and toughest of their kind in the correctional system. Our case was the largest case of sexual abuse in Canadian history with well over 650 victims spanning fifty years.

It took me a long time to recover and I thank God I was able to survive all that happened to me. It was quite an experience to see the movie as some of the scenes were remarkable in their resemblance to how we were treated by the brothers. Of course the movie had to soften the reality of abuse but the betrayal of trust and the indifference to the victims was accurate.

It is hard to say if the movie had any signficant value to me on a therapeutic level but I was glad to see it for the iilustration of abuse. It did not really harm me on a lasting basis that I can see but it did remind me of how angry the abuse made me for many years.

 

[Lightfang]

Ross,
Thank You so much for sharing. I am so very glad that you were able to make it out of such an oreal. Welcome to the site. I hope you find it useful. Please check out the chat room as well, there are people there most evenings.

Geo