A Modern Monument To 'Shakespearean-like' Storytelling

Rating: 10/10 (14 September 2011)

In Bruges is a truly wonderful film set in Belgium (... in Bruges), starring Colin Farrell, Ralph Fiennes, and one of the greatest performances from the past 5 years in cinema, from Brendan Gleeson. The plot in brief is two Irish assassins are sent to a hide out after a mission gone awry, with little or no idea of their objectives out in Belgium. After some 'sight-seeing', their boss gets in contact, and the whole dynamic of the film is shaken. As emotions of hate, self-loathing, and prevailing love and compassion become apparent, the film spirals into a grandiose 'Tarantino' esque encounter.
The action takes awhile to come in, meaningfully fitted into the narrative, and unlike so many other modern day pictures, never needs to be excused for.
There's plenty of gripping, intense, and highly emotional scenes, at it's apex felt in one of the most poignant moments of the past decade in film, involving Brendan Gleeson and a perfectly chosen track from the Dubliners. Whether it's the soundtrack or cast, this film has Celtic blood coursing through it's veins, and no matter how alien the surroundings are, this iconic scene couldn't have been more pertinent with regard to the over-arching theme. I may just have had a tear in my eye.
And whether it's midgets in dream-like art house productions in the cobbled streets of Bruges, or fat snooty elephants, or 'Americans', walking up a narrow staircase, the dark humour is great, and will certainly satisfy those in hunger of satire amongst the morbidity bursting at the seams of the piece.
For anyone who has seen Sexy Beast, Fiennes is the Ben Kingsley equivalent, the rabid mob boss with a blood-lust, but not without a conscience. This film is too clever to deal in the absolutes, 'Good vs Evil', of traditional Hollywood; the moral compass wavers throughout, and becomes a confrontation based on outlooks over complex subjects like retribution and punishment, grounded where no one is of the divine.
The cinematography is breathtaking, and the whole plot feels very Shakespearean, as a modestly sized ensemble of characters are weaved into the film, always with a purpose.
And perhaps most of all, i finally 'got' Colin Farrell.