Cast: Colin Farrell, Ralph Fiennes, Brendan Gleeson
Director: Martin McDonagh
After a hit, Ray (Farrell) and Ken (Gleeson) are sent away by the man who hired them for the job, to hide out in Bruges. That’s in Belgium, and the choice of the place is as much a surprise for the two Irishmen.
However, the reason for the choice of the city soon becomes evident. Bruges is “the most well-preserved medieval city in Belgium”. Religious symbols fill the town, as do themes of purgatory and hell wherever they look. Plus, the time is Christmas.
Ken is an avid sightseer, while Ray has to be dragged to the monuments, including a church holding what is said to be Christ’s blood. It may have something to do with the fact that Ray accidentally shot a young boy apologising in church while on his first job. The guilty is driving him crazy and Bruges doesn’t let him forget it.
There is repeated emphasis on “the fairytale nature of the city” and In Bruges ends on an ambiguous note of what that means for the two hired killers. Is it the promise of heaven, or the hint of hell, before Judgment Day?
Fiennes forms the third half of the triangle, as a loving family man who orders the hits. However, even he draws a line, and for him, killing children is absolutely unacceptable.
Mixing humour, quirkiness and pathos, In Bruges spins a story showing the capacity to both surprise and enthrall. A large credit for that goes to Farrell, Fiennes, Gleeson and its two female leads. An interesting and talented mix, they never let down the film’s ambitions.
... contd.
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