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 In cinemas Thursday [M]
Director: Martin McDonagh
Runtime: 107 mins
After its sold out Brisbane premiere at the recent Film Festival, positive word of mouth will be spreading about this small but perfectly-formed gem with a Belgian setting and an Irish heart.
Bruges is a well-preserved medieval city on the coast of Belgium that attracts its fair share of tourists. Two Irish hitmen are sent there after completing a job in London. Ray (Colin Farrell) finds this quiet, pleasant town stifling, while Ken (Brendan Gleeson) is relaxed and enjoys taking in the sights. They are meant to be waiting for a call from their boss Harry (Ralph Finnes) giving further instructions. While waiting, Ray hooks up with a local actress Chloe, who is there making a film which is somewhere between a homage and a pastiche of the ‘60s classic Don’t Look Now which was set in Amsterdam. Like that city, Bruges has an extensive canal system, and like Don’t Look Now, in Chloe’s film there’s crucial role played by a dwarf.
The clever screenplay gets you so involved with the lively banter between the two contrasting hitmen and their entanglements in Bruges, that when the violence comes it has a surprising impact. What’s also surprising is how existential the film becomes. Ray, it emerges, has done a terrible thing, yet Ken, an older, mentor figure wants to save him rather than punish him, or allow Ray to punish himself. It’s this spiritual dimension that lifts the film to a level well above the standard gangster or hitman story.
Ralph Finnes is both monstrous and funny as the fuming hardman, desperate to stay in charge, in a performance that recalls Ben Kingsley’s manic turn in Sexy Beast. Brendan Gleeson is good as always, but for Colin Farrell this film is an absolute career-saver. After the stumbles of Alexander and Miami Vice, Farrell is back on Irish dramatic territory if not Irish soil, and finds the vulnerability in Ray as well as the blarney.
The twists and ironies, right up to the poetically apt ending and the final words delivered by Harry, are a credit to the writing of Martin McDonagh. A highly regarded Irish playwright and an Oscar winner for a short film called Six Shooter, McDonagh also shows a skilful touch as a director. In Bruges is violent, profane and a lot of fun, but it also makes you care, and by successfully blending such an unlikely mix of elements, becomes a striking piece of cinematic entertainment.
****½
GARRY WILLIAMS
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