Two scenes from The Long Good Friday, in which Bob Hoskins showed his amazing talent as probably one of the best actors this country has ever known. In the first, he makes a legendary rant, in the second he says hardly anything…but by pure facial expression, is able to convey the thoughts and feelings of a condemned man.
I don't know if any of you have been in a borstal but I have, because this has brought back some memories I had totally forgotten, let me explain. The youth club I went to set-up a football competition with a few other clubs in a borstal in the 70's. I think it was supposed to kind of therapeutic for the kids inside to mix with 'Normal' kids? Anyway, it was just like this a bloody cold scary place but to be fair to the boys inside they were all right us, you could tell they were told to be on their best behaviour. Some were a bit odd and untrusting. I kept on getting asked for cigarettes but I didn't smoke and lots going on that I just didn't get, it was an unrepeatable experience.
I was trying to think of the words to explain how it was and you have helped me . There was this feeling of an undercurrent of violence in the place, like something was about to kick-off. Looking back I couldn't wait to get out of there it was a long 3 or 4 hours.
Mate, you’ve got it spot on. The noise when you get there is what does it for me….the sound of latent aggression, as you say, gives it a feel that it could kick off at anytime. The only place I found more scary to visit, was an unnamed Mental Health Unit that I went to in the early hours, pitch black and seemed that the residents were left to roam the grounds as they pleased. Chatted to someone who I thought was a member of staff for 5 minutes or so, until it finally dawned on me that she was, in fact, a resident. Reminded me of the James Herbert novel, The Dark, and I couldn’t wait to get out of there.
Sounds pretty awful there Staines. Imagine if you weren't mental and were put there against your will, you'd definitely become mental in a short time. So spending even a brief time there would have probably given you nightmares mate, especially after unknowingly talking to an inmate.
Just wondering, which would you guys have preferred to visit or be a regular visitor to, Flan's youth club in a borstal or Staines' Mental Health Unit? BTW, if neither couldn't be an option.
