Oscar Nominated In Bruges on DVD & Blu-Ray now
Golden Globe winner Colin Farrell Makes Small Film Worth Seeing
Jan 29, 2009
The story of two hit men hiding in the small European city of Bruges is a very dark comedy - as dark as the interior of the confessional where Farrell - as Ray - shoots a priest.
Revelation of what, where, why
We never do find out why he kills the priest but we do know that the hit went terribly wrong. So Ray and Ken (Brendan Gleeson) are hiding out in Bruges.
The story revolves around redemption and revelation as most good tales do. Brendan Gleeson brings his depth and weight to Ken, who reveals the extent of the debt he owes to their boss, Harry Waters (Ralph Fiennes). And it is his belief that redemption can be found for Colin Farrell’s Ray that propels the story. While Harry regards Bruges as a fairytale town with its ancient spires, sprawling art galleries and web of canals, Ray thinks Bruges is a little piece of hell on earth. Or maybe it is purgatory, where one waits to be sent to heaven or hell. Ken encourages Ray to take in the sights – which provides the most comic moments. The paintings of heaven and hell are most intriguing to them both. Ken has been living through hell on earth and Ray has just committed a crime so heinous that he too has entered a living hell.
This is not a family film. It deserves every ounce of its R rating. According to IMDB there are 126 uses of the F-word and its derivations in a film that runs 107 minutes. That is 1.18 F- bombs per minute. Ray actually comments on Harry’s use of the word to Ken when they receive a message from him at the hotel.
Director and writer Martin McDonagh has been nominated by the Academy in the category of best screenwriting written directly for the screen. Given that his only other film is a 2005 short called Six Shooter starring Brendan Gleeson, you might want to keep an eye on this young talent. He won the Oscar for Best Short, Live Action that year. There is also another weird connection to Harry Potter. Ralph Fiennes is maybe remembered as Voldemort but Gleeson is Mad-Eye Moody from Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. The young lady who Ray falls in love with is Clemence Poesy, Fleur Delacour from Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. For his sophomore film effort, McDonagh was able to attract some very heavy talent. But that is because the English born Irisher has been writing some controversial plays for some time. The Beauty Queen of Leenane, Lonesome West and Pillowman have been Tony nominated.
In Bruges is a great, weird little movie that doesn’t have easy answers. But the real answer is to expect to see a lot more of Martin McDonagh.
Best Sequence ever while standing outside of a medieval tower:
Ken: Coming up?
Ray: What’s up there?
Ken: The view.
Ray: The view of what? The view of down here? I can see that down here.
Ken: Ray, you are the worst tourist in the whole world.
Ray: Ken, I grew up in Dublin. I love Dublin. If I grew up on a farm and was retarded, Bruges might impress me but I didn’t, so it doesn’t.
The cool thing about the DVD is that you get to watch Collin Farrell screw up that sequence in the extras.
