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In Bruges is a 2008 Irish-British black comedy-drama film written and directed by Martin McDonagh. The film stars Colin Farrell and Brendan Gleeson as two hitmen in hiding, with Ralph Fiennes as their gangster boss. The film takes place — and was filmed — within the Belgian city of Bruges.

In Bruges was the opening night film of the 2008 Sundance Film Festival. The film opened in limited release in the United States on February 8, 2008; premiered at the Jameson Dublin International Film Festival on February 15, 2008; later went on full release in Ireland on March 8, 2008; and opened April 18, 2008 in the United Kingdom.

Colin Farrell won a Golden Globe Award for Best Actor in a Musical or Comedy for the film, while Martin McDonagh won a BAFTA Award for Best Original Screenplay. The film has since gone on to achieve cult status.

Plot

During his first job, rookie hitman Ray (Colin Farrell) accidentally kills a young boy. He and his senior colleague Ken (Brendan Gleeson) are sent to Bruges by their employer Harry Waters (Ralph Fiennes), and told to await further instructions. While Ken takes in the sights and historic medieval buildings, Ray is agitated and depressed, wracked with guilt over the boy's death. One night, while observing a film shoot with a dwarf actor Jimmy (Jordan Prentice), Ray strikes up a romance with Chloë (Clémence Poésy), a local drug dealer and thief, moonlighting as a production assistant. On a date, Ray gets involved in a fistfight with a couple from Canada, mistaking them for Americans. Later that night, Chloë's former boyfriend Eirik (Jérémie Renier) threatens Ray with a handgun loaded with blanks, but Ray disarms him and shoots Eirik in the eye, partially blinding him.

Despite his budding romance with Chloë, Ray's guilt at his accidental killing of the boy continues to haunt him. Ken finally receives a call from Harry, who orders him to kill Ray on the principle that the killing of a child — even accidentally — is unforgivable; he would expect the same penalty if it happened to him, as Harry is a family man himself. Ken retrieves a handgun from Harry's local Belgian contact and tracks Ray to a park. As Ken sneaks up behind Ray to kill him, he sees Ray is about to shoot himself. His concern for his young friend overrides his sense of duty to their employer, and Ken prevents Ray's suicide. Ken then confesses to Ray that he had been ordered by Harry to kill Ray, although Ken denies that he intended to go through with the execution. While the two discuss the situation, Ken takes Ray's gun and convinces him to leave the city and the business. Following Ray's departure, Ken calls Harry, reveals his insubordination and location, and abruptly hangs up. An enraged Harry immediately heads to Bruges, where he gets a gun and dumdum bullets from his contact.

Before Ray's train has travelled far from the city, he is arrested for assaulting the Canadian couple and escorted back to Bruges. Chloë bails Ray out of jail, and the two share a drink on the market square beneath Bruges' belfry. Ken and Harry meet for a drink nearby, before heading to the belfry, passing by Ray and Chloë without noticing them. At the top of the carillon tower, Ken declares that Ray deserves a chance at redemption, but refuses to fight Harry in defense of his own life, as he loves and respects him for his honor and generosity. Harry, while furious, takes pity on Ken and shoots him in the leg rather than in the head. When Eirik, passing by, spots Ray and Chloë and informs Harry of Ray's location, Ken fights with Harry for Ray's sake, and is shot in the neck. Harry descends the steps to confront Ray, leaving Ken seriously wounded. Ken drags himself back to the top of the carillon tower and searches for Harry in an attempt to shoot him before he harms Ray, but due to fog, he cannot see from the tower. Ken decides to jump off with his gun, hoping to allow Ray to use it in his defence. After first scattering coins to clear the area below of people, he jumps and lands in the plaza, living just long enough to warn Ray of Harry's arrival. However, the gun is shattered by the fall.

With Harry in pursuit, Ray flees back to the hotel for his gun, which Ken had stashed in a drawer in their room. Harry arrives soon after, but Marie (Thekla Reuten), the pregnant owner of the hotel, refuses to allow him up the stairs. Shouting through the stairwell, both men agree that Ray will try to flee from the back of the hotel, and Harry will run after him and shoot him if he can. Ray jumps on to a passing boat and drops his gun in the process. Ray looks back to see Harry drawing down on him from a bridge, but doubts that Harry will be able to make the shot due to the distance. Despite the long range, Harry fires and hits Ray in the abdomen. Harry pursues the now-wounded Ray through the streets before stumbling onto the film set, where Jimmy is in costume as a schoolboy. Harry shoots Ray another three times and in the process inadvertently shoots Jimmy in the head with the expanding ammunition, effectively decapitating him. Mistaking Jimmy's headless body for that of a child, Harry commits suicide on principle despite Ray's attempts to stop him. The gravely-wounded Ray is lifted onto an ambulance as he sees Marie, Eirik and Chloë in turn. Once in the ambulance, Ray considers prison or death as sufficient recompense for accidentally killing the boy, but then wonders if hell consists of staying in Bruges forever, at which point he says he hopes to live. He then slips into unconsciousness, leaving his fate unclear.

Cast

• Colin Farrell as Ray, a well-meaning Irish hitman wracked with guilt from his first assignment
• Brendan Gleeson as Ken, an older and more experienced Irish hitman
• Ralph Fiennes as Harry Waters, a violent crime boss with unbending principles
• Clémence Poésy as Chloë Villette, a Belgian criminal and production assistant who is also a drug-dealer
• Jordan Prentice as Jimmy, an American drug-addicted dwarf actor
• Thekla Reuten as Marie, co-owner and operator of the hotel
• Jérémie Renier as Eirik, Chloë's ex-boyfriend and ex-partner in crime
• Anna Madeley as Denise, a Dutch prostitute picked up by Jimmy
• Elizabeth Berrington as Natalie, Harry's wife
• Eric Godon as Yuri, Harry's Belgian contact who sells illegal weaponry

Sights of Bruges

At one point, Ken and Ray visit the Groeningemuseum and see Hieronymus Bosch's painting The Last Judgment. Actors in the "film-within-a-film" wear costumes resembling elements of the painting, creating a symbolism of Bruges as heaven, purgatory, and/or hell.

In the museum, Ray views the painting The Flaying of the Corrupt Judge Sisamnes (1498) by Gerard David.

Film references

The plot bears notable similarities to Harold Pinter's one-act play The Dumb Waiter. The film also contains many references to Don't Look Now, including the claim by Chloë that the film-within-a-film is a homage to that film.

Ken is seen watching the beginning of Orson Welles' Touch of Evil, with its notable continuous take of a car bombing. This precedes a six-minute tracking shot of Ken speaking on the telephone with Harry, where Harry instructs Ken to assassinate Ray. The layout of Harry Water's desk and chair in his office at home are very similar to the layout of the office in the Corleone family home in The Godfather. There is a nod to the television film version of The Dumbwaiter when Harry uses the names Cranham and Blakely to first check into the hotel, these names belong to the stars of that TV version Kenneth Cranham and Colin Blakely.

Release

Home media

The film was released on DVD in region 1 on 24 June 2008; region 2 on 11 August 2008; and region 4 on 21 January 2009. It was also released on Blu-ray on 27 January 2009; and in region 1 on July 13, 2010.

Music

In Bruges: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack is a soundtrack to the film of the same name, released by Lakeshore Records and featuring the score of Carter Burwell as well as additional music found in the film. The soundtrack was released on 5 February 2008 in the United States and Canada.

All music is composed by Carter Burwell, except where noted

Reception

Box office

In Bruges was released in limited theaters on February 8, 2008, and opened in 28 theaters in the United States, grossing $125,541 on its opening day and $459,575 on its opening weekend, ranking #25 with a per theater average of $16,413. On its second weekend, it was released in 112 theaters and moved up to #22 and grossed $970,211, with a per theater average of $8,663. By its third weekend it moved up even more to #21 and made $738,318 from 163 theaters it was released, with $4,530 per theater average.

Critical response

The film received highly positive reviews from the film critics. Review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes reports that 82% of critics have given the film a positive review based on 160 reviews, with an average rating of 7.1/10. At Metacritic, which assigns a weighted mean rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the film currently holds an average score of 67, based on 34 reviews, which indicates "generally favorable reviews".

Chicago Sun-Times film critic Roger Ebert gave the film high praise and a four-out-of-four stars rating, he wrote: "This film debut by the theater writer and director Martin McDonagh is an endlessly surprising, very dark, human comedy, with a plot that cannot be foreseen but only relished." Tasha Robinson of The A.V. Club gave the film a "A-" grade, she praised the performances of the main cast members, stating that "Farrell, having successfully made the transition from overexposed-yet-underutilized action-thriller star to one-film-a-year artiste, gets a lot to work with, and he sells it all flawlessly, moving convincingly from offhanded, prickly asshole mode to nervous young lover to disintegrating martyr," and that "then again, all the leads are perfectly cast, and they help turn a light farce with thriller overtones into something deeper and sweeter." About the film itself, she added: "When it's funny, it's hilarious; when it's serious, it's powerful; and either way, it's an endless pleasant surprise." Claudia Puig of USA Today gave the film three-and-a-half stars out of four, she praised the performances of two leads, stating that "Brendan Gleeson is brilliant as Ken, one of a pair of hit men sent to Bruges, a medieval Belgian town, along with his partner in crime, Ray, played by Colin Farrell in probably his best performance." About the film, she added that it's "sharply written, superbly acted, funny and even occasionally touching." Damon Wise of Empire magazine gave the film four-out-of-five stars, he also praised the performances, and stated that "with In Bruges, the British gangster movie gets a Croydon facelift. It may not be new, but it's a wonderfully fresh take on a familiar genre: fucked-up, far-out and very, very funny."

John Anderson of Washington Post gave the film a positive review, writing that "those who know McDonagh's work know a vein of darkness will run deeply through the comedy. It has seldom been darker. Or funnier. He has made a hit-man movie in which you don't know what will happen and can't wait to find out. Every movie should be so cliched." Mick LaSalle of San Francisco Chronicle also gave the film a positive review, he praised Farrell's performance, stating that "in the past few months, with Cassandra's Dream and now this, we've found out something about Farrell. He's not a matinee idol, and he's not a suave or heroic leading man. He's a terrific character actor, and he can go to low places that suave heroes can't risk, like anguish, self-hatred, embarrassment, utter confusion and buffoonery." About the film, he added that it's "witty and lively, with a soul to it, as well." Dana Stevens of Slate magazine also praised the performances of two leads, she wrote: "Farrell, who just played a remarkably similar tortured killer for hire in Woody Allen's Cassandra's Dream, finds just the right tone for this twitchy, funny, emotionally volatile thug; for once, he seems to know exactly what movie he's in. So does Brendan Gleeson, the big, shambling, sad-eyed Irish actor known to American audiences mainly for his role in the last two Harry Potter movies." She continued about the film: "A jolly mess of a movie. Overplotted, choppy, and contrived, it nonetheless has a curious vitality that makes you wonder where McDonagh will go next." James Berardinelli of ReelViews gave the film two-and-a-half stars out of four, writing that "the acting is top-notch. Colin Farrell, who seems to be gravitating increasingly toward smaller films, effectively channels his manic energy. He and Brendan Gleeson display chemistry in the Odd Couple vein, occasionally giving rise to instances of humor. Ralph Fiennes plays one of the most twisted roles of his career."

Lisa Schwarzbaum of Entertainment Weekly gave the film a "C+" rating, indicating a mixed review, she praised McDonagh's directing, stating that "he's a specialist in constructing satisfying, live-wire dramas of violence that crash up against despair, in upending his characters' miseries with moments of twisted humor, and in sustaining a writing voice that roars with a particularly Irish robustness of obscenity." She also added about the film that "neither star is sloppy, but both are loose and mellow -- a couple of pros who know they're the whole show." Ella Taylor of Village Voice also gave the film a mixed review, stating that "Bruges may be the movie's rather too-long-running joke, but Farrell's shaggy brow is easily the most entertaining thing in Irish playwright Martin McDonagh's first foray into the crime caper."

Accolades

In Bruges was nominated for seven awards by the British Independent Film Awards, including nominations for the Douglas Hickox Award (Debut Director), Best Performance by an Actor in a British Independent Film and Best Screenplay, the latter of which it won. It was also nominated for two Satellite Awards, for Best Actor (Brendan Gleeson) and Best Film.

In November 2008, Martin McDonagh won the Irish Playwrights and Screenwriters Guild (IPSG) award for Best Film Script for the film.

The film was also nominated for the Golden Globe Award for Best Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy, and both Brendan Gleeson and Colin Farrell were nominated for Best Actor – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy, which Farrell won at the 66th Golden Globe Awards ceremony, broadcast on 11 January 2009. McDonagh won the Best Original Screenplay award at the 62nd British Academy Film Awards in February 2009.

The film was nominated for Best Original Screenplay award at the 81st Academy Awards in 2009, but lost to Milk. In the same year, it won the Best International Film award at the 6th Irish Film & Television Awards.

References

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External links

• Official website
• In Bruges at IMDb
• Template:Amg movie
• In Bruges at Rotten Tomatoes
• In Bruges at Metacritic
• In Bruges at Box Office Mojo

• 2008 films
• British films
• English-language films
• Black comedy films
• Buddy films
• Crime drama films
• British comedy-drama films
• Directorial debut films
• Bruges in fiction
• Films directed by Martin McDonagh
• Films set in Flanders
• Films shot in Belgium
• Focus Features films