New This Week: In Bruges
Wednesday, June 25th, 2008
Colin Farrell and Brendan Gleeson star in In Bruges, the feature film debut from Irish playwright Martin McDonagh, who won an Academy Award in 2005 for his short film Six Shooter.
If you missed it’s run at The Pickford, this is your chance to check out one of the funniest and darkest buddy comedies to come along in recent memory.
Colin Farrell plays Ray, a rookie hitman whose botched first job finds he and his older, more experienced partner, Ken, (Brendan Gleeson) cooling their heels in Belgium’s most picturesque tourist destination, the city of Bruges. While Ken enjoys himself taking in the sights of the town and kicking back, Ray feels trapped by the city and is haunted by the mistake that got he and Ken sent into exile. But when it turns out the job might not be over after all, Ken and Ray end up having a much more exciting time in the laid back town than they expected to.
Though he comes from a stage directing background, McDonagh is a natural behind the camera, and his directorial sense translates beautifully to the more expansive, full city setting of the film. Through long panning shots and an obvious love of the city’s medieval architecture, McDonagh makes viewers feel like gawking tourists in a strange place. And as we watch another film being shot in the town’s ancient square as a plot piece, the sensation of being bystanders to this sordid, violent and immensely entertaining debacle is unmistakable. While his eye for direction has adapted to the fit the screen, McDonagh’s sharp screenwriting carries over directly from his award winning stage pieces such as The Pillowman, which played at Bellingham’s own Idiom Theater earlier this year.
Owing much to acclaimed playwright Harold Pinter’s The Dumb Waiter, which also features a pair of hitmen bickering in exile following a job gone sour, In Bruges is replete with sudden violence, dark humor, deadly misunderstandings and slapstick comedy, along with a heaping helping of midget humor thrown in for good measure. By turns unflinchingly stark and comically surreal, it also features a phenomenal chase scene through the city’s canals, the most civil and considerate shootout ever put to film and a great third act performance by Ralph Fiennes as the two killers distinctly unhappy employer.
Click here to listen to an interview with McDonagh, and be sure to watch the official trailer here. Or just come on down this week and pick up a copy for yourself!
