Breakfast on Pluto is one of those special films that manages tough subject matter without even a hint of preachiness and rolls through the entire story with pure emotions and a love of color and fun. Set near the border of Northern Ireland in the fiction town of Tyrellin during the 60's and 70's, a baby Patrick Braden (Cillian Murphy) is delivered to the doorstep of a reverend, Father Liam (Liam Neeson) as robins fly around, chirping narration and jokes. Father Liam gives the child to a very conservative foster family with a woman Patrick refers to as "Hairy Arse".  Patrick grows up with a few understanding friends, Charlie (Ruth Negga) the sweet and spunky girl amongst the troupe, Irwin (Laurence Kinlan) the most politically aware of them all, and Lawrence (Seamus Reilley) their stout mentally challenged buddy. But Patrick also has an affinity for all things pretty, frequently kitting out in dresses he finds around the house and lipstick and mascara, despite the derision and hatred he receives from his foster family.

At school he is ultimately a freak to his fellow Irish-Catholic classmates and indeed to the teachers. Upon finding out that his absent mother, Eily Bergin (who was famed to bear resemblance to Mitzi Gaynor) worked for Father Liam and that indeed Father Liam is his biological father, Patrick tries to confront Father Liam about his discovery during confession, only to be walked out on. So Patrick creates a story in his mind that Father Liam has raped his mother and turns it in as his homework essay. Naturally this receives a very negative reaction from his professor.

Patrick creates a new name for himself, after St. Kitcheen, who he says some have been known to call "Kitten" (in the book, "Pussy"). As the new Patricia "Kitten" Braden, s/he quits P.E. and instead takes Home Economics, making his uniform ever more glam and pretty by day and sewing up beautiful new colorful clothes by night.

 Do these ruffles make me look fat?

When home life and school becomes too much for her, she leaves town with only a suitcase and an umbrella. Kitten hitches a ride with a bunch of glittery rock stars, namely Billy Hatchet and the Mohawks (with Gavin Friday as Billy Hatchet).

  

Billy soon falls for Kitten's innocent beauty and naive optimism, making her the new member of the band. Only the other members are finding it incredibly awkward to have them around, so after Kitten's only show, Billy realizes his mistake and instead gives her a trailer of her own somewhere in the Irish countryside. He leaves for long stretches of time, but Kitten loves being a housewife of sorts to a traveling band. That is, of course, until Kitten cleans up a little bit and discovers a secret stash of weapons underneath the floor.

Kitten visits her old friends in her loneliness and finds that her good friend Irwin has joined the IRA. She simply dismisses all his politics as so "serious serious serious".

But things do become serious when a car bomb is found and suspicion falls on the IRA. Police blockades are formed around the site and people gather round to see the outcome when Lawrence comes playfully out, shouting "Exterminate!" as if he were playing Daleks and Doctors. Kitten and Irwin try to shot and stop Lawrence, but the police detonate the bomb (which was actually put there by Loyalists) and kill Lawrence, an innocent bystander.

When Kitten goes home, racked with guilt and grief, and throws all of Billy's secret guns out and over a cliff, Billy leaves her and tells her that she has to lie about him, where he's gone, and what she knows because it's a "serious" situation. Kitten hates all this "serious" mumbo jumbo and sets out to try and find her long-lost mother, Eily Bergin, whom "London swallyed up". When she goes around London with only public records of an "E. Bergin" and the hope of reunion, she finds not a mother, but strangers. Left alone and penniless, Kitten finds a home in the park, sleeping in Wombles hut. But the following morning she is awoken by a REAL Womble! Or rather Brendan Gleeson, offering her a position as a fellow Womble.

 

Unfortunately Kitten's job is soon over when her coworker punches their boss in the face. Left without any other prospects, Kitten tries her hand at prostitution. Her first John, nicknamed "Silky" in the book, is played by Roxy Music's very own Bryan Ferry (AAAAH!!!!).

At first he seems kind, showering Kitten with compliments and sweetly speaking of love. He hands her a silky tie and tells her to put it on. When she does, he pulls her over and starts to strangle her!! Is this the end of Kitten Braden? No, because Kitten is a quick thinker, and pulls out her handy Chanel No. 5 and sprays it directly in Silky's eyes, temporarily blinding him and giving Kitten just enough time to run to safety, but her innocent optimism is strongly compromised. Kitten takes refuge in a diner, constantly writing in a little journal and looking sicker and thinner and more afraid by the minute until a friendly gentleman, Bertie (Stephen Rea) comes to her table.

 

 

But Charlie comes to take Kitten away, saying that in fact the stage show is exploitative of Kitten's life story and naivety. Kitten stays with Charlie and Irwin and learns that Charlie is pregnant with Irwin's child. She attempts to get an abortion and brings Kitten with her, but upon realizing that the baby could be someone as sweet and loving as Kitten, decides not to abort the baby. Kitten bids her farewell for a spell and goes to a bar where she meets a soldier who dances with her.

Surprisingly that very night, while Kitten is there, an IRA bombing occurs and now Kitten is suspected of being the one behind it. The film goes on to have her interrogated and kept in jail, amongst other adventures that both Kitten thinks up and that really happen. The film is full of beauty and a dreamy quality that puts us directly in Kitten's mind as we follow her emotional story. I'm not ashamed to say I cried several times throughout this film, it's truly touching and filmed so gorgeously that it's hard not to feel for these characters.

  

  

  

  

  

  

And it's impossible to talk about this movie without paying close attention to the clothes, which are spectacular. I'm a very big Glam Rock fan to begin with, and Kitten's androgynous garb is so inspiring that whenever I have a huge fashion funk, I find myself turning to her. But it's also important to see that Kitten has two forms-- Brunette, which follows a very Glam trend that could be seen still as menswear, and Blonde, where Kitten experiments with more pastel dresses and lacey frocks.