In Bruges
Martin McDonagh | UK | 2008
107 min

I’ve been to Bruges; I spent an entire day (as a tourist no less) lost in a labyrinth of stone passageways and baroque, medieval structures that managed to evoke feelings of being in a place passionately preserved through history – an almost heavenly commune. In the film, In Bruges this quaint little town turns out to be a not so nice place, becoming almost synonymous with the Biblical purgatory and also the butt of tourist humour. Two hitmen (Colin Farrell and Brendan Gleeson) are sent there after a botched attempt. They are at first weary, disliking each other’s company and this works well to sets up the initial witty tone, but the film is much too smart to let this be its focus. Through their visits to churches and around the city, issues of personal guilt are explored. These men don’t reenact John Cusack’s bogus, funny hitman-without-a-conscience from Grosse Point Blank. They have issues unresolved both amongst each other and individually and the idyllic Bruges setting allows each time to ponder. In the midst of this pensiveness come many a distraction – a love interest, a dwarf performing in an advertisement being filmed as a knowing nod to Don’t Look Now (which the film also slyly pays homage to) and a manic, almost crazed Ralph Fiennes channeling Ben Kingsley’s icy viciousness from Sexy Beast.

The film works both an as entertainer and a crafty lesson in morality. It utilizes the best traits of a buddy film; empathy and the joy of being in another’s company, but doesn’t hammer us with life’s lessons. Instead, the violence in the latter half is jarringly bitter and surprisingly welcome; this is a film after all about amoral men. Perhaps the biggest single compliment that can be paid to In Bruges is that it is very precise, though never a calculated attempt, owing to the natural spontaneity of the rapport between the two leads, but also the skills of first time director and acclaimed playwright Martin McDonagh. There isn’t a scene that’s wasted. In a time when films have situations more as a nod to convention than anything else, In Bruges uses nearly every plot thread to its advantage. There is a man that Colin Farrell’s Ray quarrels with at a restaurant and not only does he serve a purpose but so does the racy dwarf by the time of the films sublimely bloody, remorseless ending. In a film of many, many virtues, not the least of which are the extremely strong performances, the script emerges king.