Gleeson provides much of the film's moral
compass. With a thick dollop of guilt sitting
on his shoulders, he’s resigned to the fact
that he is one of the bad guys, even if his
child-like, wide-eyed sightseeing suggests a
gentle soul. Its the sort of part Gleeson excels
at, drawing a fine line between parental role
model and professional assassin.
Then theres Fiennes, adding another
legendary bastard to his bulging repertoire of
cruelty. If Amon Goeth was the last word on
cinematic Nazis, he has nothing on Harry, who
feels the need to send Ray to Belgium to, at
the very least, have a decent view before a
bullet goes through his brain.
And if all this testosterone isn't your cup of
tea, there's Clemence Poesy's Chloe, who
provides a cool counterpoint to the
masculinity and a graceful presence in the
midst of mayhem.
Bruges itself is a character, the Gothic
buildings, gargoyles and"Medieval stuff"as
they call it, providing a juxtaposition to the
blood and insanity that spills in to its streets,
in much the same way as Venice did for
Roeg's DON'T LOOK NOW, referenced more
than once here.
McDonagh clearly knows his cinema and, with
his DOP Eigil Bryld, plays with light and
shadow masterfully. Colours are warm, lots
of browns, reds and oranges, throwing the
audience off and keeping them on edge, while
Carter Burwell's suitably downbeat score sets
a tone not a million miles from the Coen
Brothers pictures for which he is best known.
Multi-layered and dripping with religious
symbolism, the film also plays on the narrow
mindedness of outsiders, and the concept of
tourism.
"You think this is good, don't you?"
Ray might as well be talking about the film
itself. Pitch black, superbly acted and funny
as hell, IN BRUGES won't do much for the
Belgium tourist industry, but it has too much
to recommend to ever fit inside a guide book
anyway, including
"Two manky hookers and a racist dwarf."
Enjoy your stay, but mind the stairs, they're
really narrow.
Written by Chris Watt