In Bruges – unpredictable and extraordinary

In Bruges (‘Bruges’ is pronounced ‘broojz’), Irish director Martin McDonagh’s début film, is a dark comedy about two Irish hit men – one young, one middle-aged – cooling their heels in a sleepy medieval Belgian town (Bruges), under orders from their boss in England. They wait, indefinitely, for their boss’ call.

There are mixed feelings about this. The younger man, Ray (played by Colin Farrell), scruffy and tense, is disturbed, wondering why he has been sent to this ‘shithole’. The older man, Ken (played by Brendan Gleeson), mature with experience, takes in the beauty of the town and its various sights, and finds peace.

Ray has reason to be disturbed. His previous job had gone wrong and now he has to live under its shadow. He sulks through his holiday in Bruges; at times, going philosophical and talking about suffering in Hell. Ken, caring and compassionate, tries to soothe Ray’s feelings… and writer-director McDonagh defines an understated kinship between the two hit men. But, things don’t go as expected.

Through a series of chance encounters – the making of a medieval film in the town, meeting with a beautiful girl and a midget connected with the film, a row at a restaurant over smoking, and a botched robbery by the beautiful girl’s skinhead boyfriend – Ray’s mood rises and he feels the trip to Bruges isn’t wasted after all. That’s when the boss, Harry (played by Ralph Fiennes), calls and leaves specific instructions with Ken.

And, that changes everything.

There are further twists to this tale, but I won’t give anything away. I’ll let you hang on to its unpredictability – because that’s what, I feel, Martin McDonagh wants to do.

You’ll love McDonagh’s direction and his cinematographer Eigil Bryld’s fantastic presentation of Bruges, in daylight and at night, while keeping the pace of the film tense until its very end. The script is both taut and funny, leading to some hilarious situations in the film. And, even though the dialogues are filled with expletives, they add to the character of the film and its three leading characters.

In In Bruges, Martin McDonagh presents something of a slow-burn thriller in the setting of a quiet town in Europe. The film is heavy on dialogue but slow in action; its comedy overriding its tragic end. The acting by Farrell, Gleeson and Fiennes is superb (Colin Farrell’s best performance so far), bringing to the front an honest but fanciful message: that even killers have a conscience and principles to live by.

Probably, that’s what makes In Bruges an extraordinary film.