The Devil's Playground

1976
AA
1h 47m

IMDb RATING

YOUR RATING

Fred Schepisi's first feature is this lushly photographed period drama detailing a young boy's coming-of-age in a strict Catholic seminary in 1950s Australia.Fred Schepisi's first feature is this lushly photographed period drama detailing a young boy's coming-of-age in a strict Catholic seminary in 1950s Australia.Fred Schepisi's first feature is this lushly photographed period drama detailing a young boy's coming-of-age in a strict Catholic seminary in 1950s Australia.

See production info at IMDbPro

IMDb RATING

6.8/10

1.4K

YOUR RATING

See production info at IMDbPro

Awards
- 6 wins & 5 nominations total

Photos24

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Storyline

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Did you know

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Trivia
This picture was one of fifty Australian films selected for preservation as part of the National Film and Sound Archive of Australia's Kodak / Atlab Cinema Collection Restoration Project.

Connections
Featured in Sneak Previews: The Secret of NIMH/The Devil's Playground/Gregory's Girl/TRON (1982)

Soundtracks
The Anniversary Waltz
(uncredited)
Written by Dave Franklin and Al Dubin (uncredited)
[sung at the picnic by the Allen family when they visit Tom at school]

User reviews12

Featured review

10/10

A thought provoking "coming of age" film about a teenage boy at a Catholic Boarding School run by monks

This was a very thought provoking film for me and after several years I'd love to see it again (I've seen it twice on TV). The young hero was so natural I felt I knew him, and he had a very likable personality. The two monks in mufti enjoying a night on the town were more down to earth and likable than most of the other monks at the Catholic boarding school and after successfully picking up two women in a pub they got cold feet! It was interesting to see how another monk who seemed very emotionally cold dealt with a trip to a mixed gender public swimming baths, and the amazing erotic dream he had afterwards. The subjects of troubled adolescence and religious repression were well explored. The film hasn't dated at all. I hope someone brings this out on a DVD.