An old favorite of mine has come back around to Amazon Prime: Martin McDonagh’s superb dark comedy “In Bruges” (2008). We join the story as two Irish hitmen arrive in Bruges to hide out following a job gone wrong; their immediate future in a state of flux as they wait for further instructions from the mob boss who hired them. They are supposed to be laying low, but that’s not a strength for these guys.
The whole cast is absolutely superb in their respective roles, with Brendon Gleeson and Colin Farrell playing the “odd couple” hitmen, Ralph Feines as the mob boss and and ensemble around them who are phenomenal. The insidious genius of this movie is to juxtapose the historical beauty of Bruges against an entire array of characters who are, with the exception of Marie the hotel owner, to a greater or lessor extent, cunts.
I use the word advisedly but appropriately, because it’s used throughout the movie (in the European, generic form, not the specific US form). This is not a family friendly movie. The characters are heavily infused with racism, sexism, homophobia and even heightism. There is sex, drugs, extreme violence, lots of drinking and lots and lots of swearing. Even the random people who interact briefly with our protagonists are mostly awful.
This disconcerting atmosphere is heightened by the haunting, piano-based, score that works perfectly, whether enhancing the beauty of the setting…in Bruges…or heightening the tension and dread within the characters and within us. Don’t be put off by the hamfisted rock soundtrack to the trailer above, that shit is nowhere near the actual film. It looks like they tried to punch this up as some kind of screwball comedy for marketing, which it most definitely is not.
Here’s the opening sequence which gives you a much better sense of what I’m describing:
With all that said, while McDonagh makes us swim through a river of shit (albeit with a large floatie of dark humor), in the end, this is a story about honor, hope, sacrifice and redemption. 10/10.
