Breakfast on Pluto

Ordinarily I am totally weary of modern films or which are set in the 60's and 70's, because I am a complete stickler for detail especially in the costume department. It really gets me when they are showing people wearing psychedelic mini dresses and gogo boots and it is supposed to be like 1963 or something!

There is one fairly recent film however which I think has done a particularly good job recreating the look and style of an era. This is a film from 2005 called Breakfast on Pluto, starring the totally swoon worthy Cillian Murphy (those eyes. seriously.) Adapted from the wonderful book by Patrick McCabe this is the story of Patrick Braden aka Kitten) a teenage transsexual from a small town in Ireland during the 70's, set against a backdrop of political violence which he wants to escape, firstly Kitten meets the singer of a band called Billy Hatchet and The Mohawks, they fall in love and goes to live in Billy's caravan, all seems to be working out perfectly until he finds out Billy is hiding guns for the IRA and he decides it is time to leave.

Kitten goes to London to try and find his real mother, where along the way an ever so suave Bryan Ferry tries to strangle him in a car. He gets a job as a Womble and a magician's assistant, is caught up in an IRA bombing campaign, ends up working in a peep show. It also features a couple of pretty awesomely obscure songs, No More White Horses by T2 & Freelance Fiend by Leaf Hound (Leafhound?) (though both are not on the official soundtrack). What I really love is the costumes which take you from small town glam in flares and tank tops, to the lurex & velvet glamour of London, right through to disco and later 70s housewife chic. It really follows the years and changing times perfectly.

This really is a wonderful story, with a happy ending the book is beautifully written and it's wit & humor come across in the film brilliantly. But I won't spoil it anymore than I already have, so catch it if you already haven't!

Oh yes one more thing, just to show how much of a geek I am, Kitten's friend Irwin is wearing a Ossie Clark chiffon Celia print shirt in one scene at a train station.

Pics from melisdramatic flickr album