In Bruges

In Bruges

2008

Director: Martin McDonagh

Writer: Martin McDonagh

107 Minutes

“After I killed him, I dropped the gun in the Thames, washed the residue off me hands in the bathroom of a Burger King, and walked home to await instructions. Shortly thereafter the instructions came through - "Get the fuck out of London, you dumb fucks. Get to Bruges." I didn't even know where Bruges fucking was. It’s in Belgium”

Martin McDonagh had a long career in the theater, which carried over into film after his short “Six Shooter” won the Academy Award for Best Short, Live Action where then he funded “In Bruges.”

A perfect tale.

The dark comedy, brilliant acting, and well-told story mixed for an amazing piece of cinema passed over by most as “another Colin Farrell movie.” But, it isn’t.

It is so much more. It is bar none, the best Colin Farrell performance out there. And a wonderful film, to say the least.

One motherly comment: they say “fuck” 127 times in a 107 minute movie. That’s more fucks than minutes.

In the scene above, the opening, Bruges is laid out with Gothic, medieval settings with cobble stone streets and glowing structures. It’s a place untouched by time. It's a godly setting, but hellish place. And throughout the film, the topic of heaven, hell, and the middle comes up.

Purgatory.

That's what Bruges is: purgatory. The discussion of guilt and sin, while combining what actions these characters have carried out in their life explains why they’ve been banished to Bruges.

Even the painting, ‘The Last Judgment” by Hieronymous Bosch that these characters ponder revolves around their own hell, which is the theme.

Do you ever account for your actions in life? In Bruges, you do.

Bruges is not a bad place, nor ugly. But, it’s not the place Ray (Colin Farrell) wishes to stay and die in. His judgment has been cast – he made his mistakes – and now wants he moved on past this place.

In the end, I believe he does. I hope he does.

In Bruges is a fantastic film. Each line of dialog and subject brought up is recycled throughout the movie – nothing is wasted or abused – and everything is relative. Colin Farrell and Brendan Gleeson’s performance earned them Golden Globe nomination, which Farrell ended up accepting. Both are deserving of any honor they received.

Though, In Bruges is a quiet film, it’s also important. It got buzz, but not enough for the world to enjoy it. In that, this film has lived its life in movie purgatory, where the selected few have dipped into hell and found it.

But, this film is not hell. It’s heaven. And Ray says it best:

“Maybe that's what hell is, the entire rest of eternity spent in fucking Bruges.”

And maybe that’s what heaven is, spending eternity watching this perfect film.