In Bruges by Martin McDonagh (2008)
28 January 2010I had actually wanted to see this when it came out, because of the cast and trailer, but never got around to it. At least when I finally saw it, I TIVO’ed it in HD, and it looked great. A really enjoyable film about 2 hit men being sent out to lay low after a hit gone badly. This is very dark film with fantastic characters, and a story that really sucks you in, and has you hoping that the ending that you know will happen, does not. Really worth seeing, and I am sure McDonagh will going on to great things, especially if he keeps making films this good.
Hitmen Ray (Colin Farrell) and Ken (Brendan Gleeson) arrive in the “fairy tale” town of Bruges in Belgium, waiting for word from their employer Harry Waters (Ralph Fiennes). Something went badly with a hit of Ray’s, and they have to lay low, so Harry has sent them to Bruges. Ken is happy about it, as he wants to see the medieval town, but this is not the town for Ray at all. Ray hates Bruges with a passion. It is not at all where he wants to be, and he can’t stop complaining about it. We eventually learn that Ray was sent to kill a Priest ( Ciarán Hinds), which he did, but accidentally killed a child (Theo Stevenson) who was in the church praying, and Ray is wracked with guilt about it. All he wants to do is go out and get hammered and drunk, and try and forget, but their orders are to be in at night, to wait for Harry’s call. Ken feels for Ray, and they do end up going and seeing a film being shot in town. The film has an American midget named Jimmy (Jordan Prentice) who Ray is fascinsated with. And he he sneaks onto the set to talk to the beautiful Chloë (Clémence Poésy) who turns out to be a local drug dealer, who agrees to go on a date with him the next night. Of course because they were out they missed Harry’s call and he is none too happy about it.
REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS…
Ken likes Ray, and ends up agreeing to stay in and take the call so that Ray can go on his date.
Harry calls, and tells Ken that he is to kill Ray, and basically the trip to Bruges was to give Ray one last good memory before he died. He just can’t take a child being killed for any reason. Ken is crushed. He does not want to kill his friend, but he knows he must.
Ray goes out with Chloé, getting in a fight with some tourists (Željko Ivanek and Stephanie Carey) at dinner. They end up back at her place, and when things are getting hot and heavy, Chloé’s ex boyfriend Eirik (Jérémie Renier) and starts waving a gun at him. Ray takes the gun, and it is full of blanks, so Eirik pulls a knife, but Ray just fires the blanks into Eirik’s face at close range, damaging his eye. It turns out that Eirik and Chloé often rob tourists. Ray is not surprised, as he did not think he could get such a hot girl, but as she leaves to take Eirik to the hospital, she gestures for Ray to call her.
Ray ends up finding her stash filling with cocaine and ecstasy, and steals it and heads back to Ken at the b&b where they are staying. Ray and Ken have drinks in the local pub, when Jimmy comes in with a hooker. Ray is loaded out of his mind on coke, and he and Ken and 3 hookers end up going back to Jimmy’s hotel room, where they drink and do coke. Jimmy proves to be a racist with a whole theory of a war with colored people coming soon. And things get a little crazy, and Ray and Ken end up storming out.
The next morning, haunted by his killing of the boy, Ray heads to a park with a gun. Ken meanwhile goes and picks up a handgun to kill Ray with. Ken approaches Ray from behind, and sees him going to kill himself, and he stops him. Ken then takes Ray’s gun, and sends him off on the train, to go on the lamb.
Ken calls Harry, who is enraged, and immediately leaves his family to go take care of Ken, and hopefully Ray.
Ray meanwhile is arrested on the train for hitting the tourist, and is sent back to the jail in Bruges. He ends up getting Chloé to come and get him, and the two start a little romance, as they walk the town.
Harry shows up and meets with Ken, and they agree to a gunfight in the closed at night carillon tower. Ken doesn’t want to fight, but thinks that Ray should get redemption for his sins. Harry shoots him in the leg. As they stumble down the stairs, Eirik shows up (he had met Harry when he got a gun, and we learned he was blinded in one eye by Ray) to tell Harry that Ray is outside.
Harry rushes down to get Ray, while Ken drags himself up to the top of the tower, and throws himself off to warn Ray. Ray sees Ken hit the ground and being torn apart, and he runs up. Ken tells him Harry is there, but Ken’s gun has broken in the fall, so he runs.
Harry chases Ray and keeps shooting, hitting and wounding him. Ray tries to escape on a boat, and ends up in the town with the film shooting. Harry catches up and guns Ray down, but accidentally shoots and kills Jimmy, blowing his head off. And since Jimmy is dressed as a school boy, he thinks he has killed a child. Ray tries to tell him differently, but Harry is a man of his word, and quickly kills himself.
The badly wounded Ray is taken away in an ambulance. He sees Eirik and Chloé, and thinks that maybe hell is living forever in Bruges, and realizes he wants to live. The film closes with the audience not knowing what happens to Ray.
•••
A very enjoyable film about honor and guilt and redemption. Ray finds love in Chloé and he really seems to want this love, after all this was only his first kill as a hitman. And Ken values friendship above all else, willing to die for his friend. And Harry is so honorable, that when he thinks he has done what Ray has done, he kills himself almost instantly.
A very enjoyable and well written film. I would not be surprised to see some American studio remake this, though they should not!
Check it out if you get a chance, you will not be disappointing.
Feedback
You must be logged in to post a comment.