I've only seen this movie once --late at night on television-- but it has haunted me ever since. Despite an amazing cast --Cillian Murphy, Liam Neeson, Brendan Gleeson, etc.-- it never really had much of a theatrical run. This film's problems finding an audience probably had something to do with extremely controversial subject matter: It basically tells the story of Ireland's Troubles in the 1970s and '80s as seen through the eyes of a male-to-female transgendered youth --played by Cillian Murphy-- and it is very gritty. 

The only online references I could find for this movie just list it as a GLBT must-see, but I really think it is more of a war story than anything else. In retrospect it really seemed to weave together the story of a disparate band of characters --the Irish priest, the rebel teenagers, a wannabee musician, a couple of London policeman-- through the story of an ultimate outsider. Mainly set in Ireland with some scenes in London it was both horrifying and hilarious.

I'd be interested in knowing what anyone else thought of it. (Or if anyone else has ever seen it.)

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Sorry to say I haven't seen 'Angel' --I'll take it under recommendation though. Thank you for suggesting it. I thought this was one of those rare movies that defy any sort of categorization... Sadly this means there is usually no way to market them and the audience ends up missing out.

It has been awhile since I saw it. I mainly remember a series of hilarious one-liners, great dialog, and a sense simmering tension and near despair. (A bit like a couple of my favorite novels from the late 1930s: An over-riding sense that the world is about to blow up, everyone knows it, but no one can do anything.)

Heard about it when Cillian copped the lead in "The Wind That Shakes the Barley." "Pluto," I gather, was his breakout role. Haven't seen it but it sounds well-worth watching, Sarah.

In my years of watching Irish films, I am always reminded how darj the humour can be. It is also very complex. Nothing brings it to light in such a way as does this movie.

I saw it more of a coming of age and of a struggle, in that most akward of times, to also come to the realization that the place you always knew as home was the one place that you didn't fit in and probably never had.

There could be some gripes about not staying closer to the book's story line. However, I think that what they did with the movie was brilliant. Cillian Murphy brought Kitten to life in full. I do think that this was his breakout role.

Bit,

Do you think the movie was a sad shadow of the book or an equally good but very different interpretation of the same story?

I think it was a well-crafted interpretation. The producer did work hand in hand with the author of the book. 

Someone once said that a book differs from a movie in that there is no time or length limit on reading. A book can be picked and put down only to be picked up again. When you are creating a movie, you must consider the attention span of your viewing audience.

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