In Bruges, released in 2008, is an under-the-radar masterpiece of black comedy about two underperforming hitmen lying low after a botched assassination. The picturesque Belgian town of Bruges – with its arched stone bridges and swan-dotted canals – serves as an idyllic counterpoint to the drama being played out within its medieval walls.
Its cast includes Colin Farrell, Brendan Gleeson and Ralph Fiennes at the top of their form – the latter playing against type in what is arguably the role of his career – as a trio of professional killers with varying degrees of skill. And while the comic possibilities of incompetent hitmen have long been celebrated, there has rarely been a film script in which incidental dialogue combines the murderous with the mundane in quite the same way as In Bruges.
The film won a slew of awards on its release, among them a Golden Globe and a Bafta, along with an Oscar nomination, and yet it remains under-appreciated more than a decade later. Even after multiple viewings, the script continues to surprise and delight. Ray (Farrell), childlike and fractious – “the worst tourist in the world” – fails to appreciate the medieval beauty of his surroundings, or to understand why his boss, Harry (Fiennes), chose Bruges over the Bahamas as a place for them to hide out.
His minder, the more experienced Ken (Gleeson), is a man weighed down by his role as babysitter and by an ineffable sadness, the cause of which is initially unclear. His gruff exterior belies a gentleness and a love of art that he tries, and fails, to instil in the younger man. But despite the contrast in their characters, a genuine affection develops between them. Ken assumes the role of mentor and, later, protector to the clueless Ray in ways that will change the course of their lives forever. The fleeting moments of tenderness between the two men are in stark contrast to their uncertain future and the tension building between them and the volatile Harry.
Fiennes deserves special mention for his portrayal of crime boss Harry Waters. When we first meet him in his luxury home, surrounded by his wife and children, he has just received unwelcome news. His reaction – smashing the telephone against the desk until it disintegrates in a hail of plastic shards and spare parts – is a classic case of shooting the messenger and a taste of things to come. Harry is not a man to be crossed.
But even the violent Harry is shown to have a softer side. His choice of Bruges – a “fairytale” town in which his seven-year-old self spent his last happy holiday – reminds us that even cold-blooded killers were children once. Ray’s less-than-glowing response to the town brings Harry – and the viewer – back to the real world.
“It’s a fairytale town, isn’t it?” says Harry. “How’s a fairytale town not somebody’s fucking thing?”
The muted medieval interiors form a backdrop that at times resembles a Renaissance painting. Writer/director Martin McDonagh – known primarily as a theatre director – plays with lighting and monochromatic tones to create still shots that are more like still lifes. The score by Coen Brothers’ favourite Carter Burwell is infused with a wistfulness perfectly attuned to the film’s all-pervasive air of melancholy.
The cobbled streets and canals of Bruges are also the setting for a film within a film. A Dutch crew are filming a dream sequence that looks uncannily like the Bosch painting the Last Judgement, seen by both Ray and Ken during one of their “cultural” expeditions outside the confines of their shared hotel room. The film’s final scenes blend the real and the unreal into a compelling denouement from which it’s impossible to look away.
In Bruges is a film that rewards multiple viewings. The dialogue is a constantly rewarding mix of humour and pathos, with a heavy dose of mundanity that never makes it into your average Hollywood movie. The contrast of graphic violence with moments of extraordinary tenderness combine to make In Bruges a masterpiece of nuance and sledge hammer. There’s never been a better time to get yourself to Belgium.