In Bruges (2008)

Guilt-stricken after a job gone wrong, hitman Ray and his partner await orders from their ruthless boss in Bruges, Belgium, the last place in the world Ray wants to be.

Director:

Martin McDonagh

Writer:

Martin McDonagh

Stars:

Colin Farrell, Brendan Gleeson, Ciarán Hinds

Nominated for 1 Oscar. Another 24 wins & 54 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Elizabeth Berrington	...	Natalie
Rudy Blomme	...	Ticket Seller
Olivier Bonjour	...	Film Director
Mark Donovan	...	Overweight Man
Ann Elsley	...	Overweight Woman #2
Colin Farrell	...	Ray
Jean-Marc Favorin	...	Policeman (as Jean Mark Favorin)
Ralph Fiennes	...	Harry
Brendan Gleeson	...	Ken
Eric Godon	...	Yuri
Zeljko Ivanek	...	Canadian Guy
Sachi Kimura	...	Imamoto
Anna Madeley	...	Denise
Louis Nummy	...	Harry's Child #3
Clémence Poésy	...	Chloe

Storyline

London based hit men Ray and Ken are told by their boss Harry Waters to lie low in Bruges, Belgium for up to two weeks following their latest hit, which resulted in the death of an innocent bystander. Harry will be in touch with further instructions. While they wait for Harry's call, Ken, following Harry's advice, takes in the sights of the medieval city with great appreciation. But the charms of Bruges are lost on the simpler Ray, who is already despondent over the innocent death, especially as it was his first job. Things change for Ray when he meets Chloe, part of a film crew shooting a movie starring an American dwarf named Jimmy. When Harry's instructions arrive, Ken, for whom the job is directed, isn't sure if he can carry out the new job, especially as he has gained a new appreciation of life from his stay in the fairytale Bruges. While Ken waits for the inevitable arrival into Bruges of an angry Harry, who feels he must clean up matters on his own, Ray is dealing with his own ...

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Plot Keywords:

dwarf | bruges | irish | hitman | death | 

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Taglines:

Shoot first. Sightsee later.

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Genres:

Comedy | Crime | Drama | Thriller

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Certificate:

18A

Did You Know?

Trivia

Harry's strict moral code gets a further insight in a deleted scene, where a young version is played by Matt Smith. In it, Harry discovers his partner holding a dead woman in a club, so he marches into a police station and beheads the man who did it, a dirty detective. Ultimately, film makers decided to cut the scene, as the CGI decapitation looked fake.

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Goofs

The stationery of the hotel where Ken and Ray are staying has the hotel name as "De Rozenkransje - Brugge". Brugge being the Flemish name for the town of Bruges. Even a fictitious Belgian hotel would never be named like that, because the article is incorrect. 'Rozenkrans', meaning Rosary, would indeed have the article 'de'. However, 'Rozenkransje' is the diminutive and as such would always have 'Het' as the article. Even for proficient but non-native Flemish/Dutch speakers, this is a commonly made mistake.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Ray: After I killed them, I dropped the gun in the Thames, washed the residue off me hands in the bathroom of a Burger King, and walked home to await instructions. Shortly thereafter the instructions came through. "Get the fuck out of London, youse dumb fucks. Get to Bruges." I didn't even know where Bruges fucking was.
[pause]
Ray: It's in Belgium.

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Crazy Credits

In the on-screen credits, Kathy Heaser is listed twice as Graphic Designer.

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Connections

Featured in WatchMojoUK: Top 10 British Movies That Should Have Their Own TV Series (2018)

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Soundtracks

On Raglan Road
Written by Patrick Kavanagh
Arranged and Performed by The Dubliners
The words of 'On Raglan Road' by Patrick Kavanagh are reprinted by kind permission of the Trustees of the Estate of the late Katherine B. Kavanagh, through the Jonathan Williams Literary Agency

User Reviews

Nice Blend Of Drama And Comedy

One of the problems with seeing a trailer for a film is it creates an expectation. If it raises expectations, and the film delivers, great. However, if the film is less then expected, then the viewer feels cheated. The best case scenario is the one I found myself in before I saw In Bruges. Low expectations.

After seeing the trailer, In Bruges looked like a plodding British comedy with little originality and repetitious humor, hence the low expectations. Yet, In Bruges exceeded my minimal expectations, and, unlike my impression from the trailer, was an original drama with good acting and a nice blend of comedy mixed in. It was funny in the right places and appropriately dramatic when the story shifted into high gear towards the end.

Set in, no surprise here, Bruges, Belgium, the plot focuses on two London hit men, Ray played by Colin Farrell, and Ken, played by Brendan Gleeson. The pair is sent to Belgium after Ray botches his first hi. And therein lies the humor, Ray has no interest in being in the medieval city, and Ken wants to sight see.

I've never really liked Colin Farrell but who knew he had such a good sense of comedic timing? There is a running gag involving fighting with a bottle, and karate, that he manages to keep fresh as it pops up throughout the film. Brendan Gleeson's character provides the moral center and plays the straight man to Farrell's Ray. This works well as the movie turns more serious towards the end. However, for my money, the best performance is delivered by Ralph Fiennes who plays Harry the pair's criminal overlord back in London. Whereas Gleeson character embodies the moral center, Fiennes's Harry fills the role of principled immorality, if there is such a thing. Fiennes creates a character with a dubious moral center and is a quite believable figure of menace when he travels to Bruges to square off with Ken. Also, of note, is Jordan Prentice, an irritable dwarf who's in town to act in a movie filming there. His ramblings in one scene, about a coming race war, is worth the price of admission right there.

The only aspect of the film that didn't work for me was Ray's love interest. Early in the film he manages to woo Chloe, a drug dealer with, drum roll please, a heart of gold. For my tastes, the budding romance seems a little forced and comes across more as a vehicle for jokes and drama. But it's a small thing and I doubt anyone but me would notice.

I intentionally left a lot of plot points out, because, as I've mentioned, this film surprised me in a good way and I don't won't to ruin it for anyone else.

In Bruges is a good film. Go see it.

At the very least, it'll make you want to visit Bruges.

Details

Official Sites:

Focus Features [United States] Official Facebook

Country:

UK USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

29 February 2008 (USA)

Also Known As:

Bienvenue à Bruges

Filming Locations:

Gruuthuse Museum, Bruges, West-Vlaanderen, Belgium

Box Office

Budget:

$15,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$459,575, 10 February 2008

Gross USA:

$7,800,824

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$34,085,749

Company Credits

Production Co:

Focus Features, Film4, Blueprint Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

107 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital DTS

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1