Breakfast On Pluto (1 Viewer)

[Deleted member 3435]

I'd love to see a film version of the dead school. pat mccabe's writing lends itself really well to movie adaptation, I think.

yeah, but butcher boy was the first i read so i always hear francie brady. i think he tends to write in the same register all the time, and it worked best for francie.

like with all the pop culture references he uses. at what point in kittens homeless existence in london did she go see last tango in paris? (for example).
it's mccabe you hear, not the characters.

just being picky. i love his stuff too.

 

[MDR]

I thought this film was terrible.

Neil Jordan showed very poor judgement in deciding what to show and what to leave out.

He included some implausibly platonic relationships with various older men; an irrelevant boyhood friendship with downs syndrome boy; an irrelevant (distant) friend who gets involved in the IRA; a token bit of christian brother secondary school faux outrage; 'the troubles'; and various cameos that could have been jettisoned without affecting the plot one bit.

And what about what the film left out? First of all, no sex; no sexual identity issues; not one believable relationship between the main character and any other character; no sense of emotional hardship.

Worst of all, the main character was bland, vapid, witless simpleton. The numerous references to St Kitten and 'breakfast on pluto' were a contrived attempt at lending some sense of poetry I assume.

It was a classic example of what irish filmmakers consider worthy: a little bit of perversion (as it was in 1960s ireland), a bit of Northern ireland, a bit of the catholic church, etc. etc.

Jaysus will we ever make films that are about the human condition but which don't look like an episode of reeling in the years?

 

[clonan attack]

agree with some of your points alright Mumbler but i think your criticisms altogether are a bit scathing. Its an adaptation dont forget so some of yr flack lies with McCabe.
Certainly there was severe overuse of some subplots and characters like Gleesons definitely werent used to their full potential but i thought it skipped through the chapters at a nice pace (before it got too long)and some of its charm was not getting caught up in a big relationship or too many of the other friends, like Hollywood pap.

think they would have been better off renaming it the diary of Kitten (or whatever)though cos Murphy is basically on screen 99% of the film

 

[Toxic Spew]

My claim to fame is that Cillian Murphy is me second cousin. Haven't seen Breakfast on Pluto yet. Its got very mixed reactions. I think one of his best film is the very underrated 'On the Edge'.

 

[MDR]

agree with some of your points alright Mumbler but i think your criticisms altogether are a bit scathing. Its an adaptation dont forget so some of yr flack lies with McCabe.
Certainly there was severe overuse of some subplots and characters like Gleesons definitely werent used to their full potential but i thought it skipped through the chapters at a nice pace (before it got too long)and some of its charm was not getting caught up in a big relationship or too many of the other friends, like Hollywood pap.

think they would have been better off renaming it the diary of Kitten (or whatever)though cos Murphy is basically on screen 99% of the film

It certainly looked to me like a badly adapted book that really missed the narrative that would otherwise have bound it together. In contrast Brokebake Mountain was an excellent adaptation. As brokeback mountain was a novella/long story, I'm starting to wonder whether film is better suited to expanding on a shorter story, rather than condensing a longer one.

 

[Denny Oubidoux]

I thought this film was terrible.

i went to see this today and though i didnt think it was terrible i do agree with you on all your other points. twas entertaining enough all the same.

people really ought to stop bothering with patrick mccabe now. a one trick pony if ever there was one. other than "the butcher boy" the best mccabe adaptation ive seen was a theatre production of the dead school with mick lally. savage it was, in mccabes usual "monaghan boggers go mental" way.

 

[dick lomax]

an irrelevant boyhood friendship with downs syndrome boy;

funny you should mention that

ps: the film is deadly and is told from a point far beyond it's ending.

kitten seems unperturbed by stuff coz (as she says) she has to "tell it like a story that happened to someone else" or else "i might start to cry and never stop".

 

[quasiquasi]

And what about what the film left out? First of all, no sex; no sexual identity issues; not one believable relationship between the main character and any other character; no sense of emotional hardship.

Point. The only way around this is to consider that we are experiencing the story as Kitten wants to remember it, viz. in a stylised and romanticised way.

Worst of all, the main character was bland, vapid, witless simpleton.

I don't agree with this. My take is that Kitten has been thoroughly screwed up by a pretty tough childhood and can't hack it in the real world. So she regresses into a melodramatic world of her own creation, like a turtle retracting into its shell. The IRA bomb and being beaten by the police are where the harsh real world crash into Kitten's little fantasy, but even then she maintains her illusions, presumably because she is incapable of anything else. Her madness keeps her sane, and that kind of thing. I think it's an interesting set-up.

It was a classic example of what irish filmmakers consider worthy: a little bit of perversion (as it was in 1960s ireland), a bit of Northern ireland, a bit of the catholic church, etc. etc.

Point (to an extent). I assume all this is in the book too. But life near the border at this time probably was dominated by religion, the Troubles, rock music, etc.

 

[MDR]

Sorry to bring this thread back to life but i forgot to mention that Kitten speaks like Mrs Doubtfire.