This film marks Neil Jordan’s second screen adaptation, after The Butcher Boy, of a novel by Patrick McCabe. In his book, the Irish writer describes a series of hilarious and drastic episodes in the (fictional) life of a young Irish transvestite named Patrick “Kitten” Braden, who gains something of a reputation working the streets around Piccadilly Circus in London in the 1970s.
Patrick is born in 1958, in Tyreelin, close to the border with Northern Ireland. At first glance, all is as it should be in this dreamily picturesque little place. But appearances are deceptive, to say the least. Patrick is a foundling – the
result of a “slip-up” on the part of the village priest. His mother, who was working for Father Bernard as a housekeeper before she was raped by him, disappears soon after his birth.
Patrick grows up with his foster mother, Ma Braden – the malicious, harddrinking owner of the local pub. At the early age of ten Patrick develops a preference for his step-sister’s dresses and underwear – as well as her lipsticks. Later he joins a group of boys who re-enact IRA battles, using a child suffering from Down’s syndrome as a “killer robot”. In his teenage years Patrick takes to glam rock and lashings of mascara. Constantly at loggerheads with the village authorities, he finally decides to leave bigoted Ireland and throw himself headlong into London’s nightlife, where he ends up walking the streets as a male transvestite prostitute… —Berlinale
One of Ireland’s most celebrated directors, Neil Jordan has made his name directing moody, often politically charged films that focus largely on themes of love, betrayal, and the darker realms of the human psyche. Born February 25, 1950, in Sligo County, Ireland, Jordan began his career as an acclaimed fiction writer. He entered the film industry in 1981 as a script consultant on John Boorman’s Excalibur, and subsequently made a documentary about the making of the film. After scripting another film, Traveller, Jordan wrote and directed his first film, the stylish 1982 crime drama Angel. Starring Stephen Rea as a saxophone player who witnesses a series of brutal murders, it explored the darker, violent impulses of the human mind, a theme that Jordan would revisit time and again in his later films. After attracting his first wave of international recognition for In the Company of Wolves (1984), his horror-tinged retelling of the Little Red Riding Hood tale, Jordan had his first real success… read more
Jordan's picaresque fable - full of the usual contrasts between the poetic and the real - is in many ways a 21st century answer to O Lucky Man! Although not a musical in the same sense, Jordan uses period pop songs to create a commentary, not just on the story as it unfolds (like a classical Greek chorus), but as an external expression of the thoughts and feelings of its enigmatic central figure. Through the character, Jordan explores many of his key themes; divides (political, geographical, sexual), the Ireland of his youth, and the power of fiction to transcend the greatest of everyday tragedies.
A caccia di un'identità per Patrick "Kitten" Brady e per l'Irlanda degli anni Sessanta e Settanta. Questo film va visto anche solo per la straordinaria interpretazione del protagonista Cillian Murphy.
a director who knows how to use van morrison, at last! the scene with the mother breaks my heart, and wets my eyes. all the big performers, give sensational performances, with ruth negga unbelievable, and murphy brilliant beyond his self. jordan's ability to present an enthralling story in a world of violence and abuse is something else. this is the work at the centre of his 'golden' period.