A movie about Hit-men, purgation, and the contemporary western civilization !

Rating: 8/10 (20 September 2012)

Every once in a blue moon, we get a genre movie with meaning. And it's even rarer to have it in equilibrium; namely where the genre doesn't exceed the meaning, or vice versa. (In Bruges) is one of those movies. Nevertheless, the balance was partly, just partly, missed.
The best about this movie was how it managed to be multidimensional. Outwardly, it's crime / black comedy. It has not "many of" but nearly "all" the right stuff: unique characters, with several antics. Hot ping pong dialogue. Engaging European backgrounds. Touchy, even if short, music. Sharp-witted pace. And all perfect performances; surprisingly (Colin Farrell) uncovers how creatively comedic he can be! It's impossible to pinpoint one downside in this cast's work. So, it provides entertainment, in its own dark taste.
Then, inwardly, it's thought-provoking with philosophical dimension. The haunting guilt is cleverly portrayed. I loved the matter of "whether jail or death was my fate, I would welcome any of them", all for ending the compunction, and achieving the purgation. And although death is all over the story, it emphasizes the importance of life and love, because with them maybe we may win penance, second chance, and some happiness.
Notice well the names of the characters. They can be read metaphorically. For instance, Ray is a hit-man who did wrong yet has a "beam" of conscience. Ken, meaning "perceive" or "view", suits the character as more experienced than his fellow Ray. The punisher is named Harry; which means "attack" or "oblige". And finally there is a hope in the future, through the pregnant hotel owner; whose name is Marry, maybe as a reference to the Virgin Mary, who'll give birth to a new Christ, to guide and forgive the sinners.
Not only this, the movie has some sort of deep and wicked social / political point of view. It shows a western world of decadence. The Irish, the American, the Belgium people are presented as killers, drug addicts, drug dealers, gun dealers, prostitutes, thieves, racist, depressed or suicidal lost souls. The survivors of all that are the priest, and the little boy. However, they're not completely survivors, because they were killed earlier. So here we are, facing a community of human filth, that murdered its spiritual side (the priest), along with its innocence (the little boy), devoting itself to finish itself later, unless there is a desire to purge (Bruges and purge are similar words, aren't they?!). You may consider it another *Noir* world, but aside from meditative reading for the characters, you can't miss the unmistakable irony between the tranquil solemn antiquities (the old civilization), and the boisterous destructive leads (today's civilization), as the grandfathers built the great high towers, and the grandsons just fall over them!
Cut to the missing balance issue; and I mean nothing but the movie's last 10 minutes. After the moment of (Ralph Fiennes) getting out of the tower, with his gun, it's all downhill from there. Look how logic takes a dive and sinks: How the man, who always sticks to his principles, betrays those principles stupidly? He said earlier that he won't shoot his target in front of 3000 Belgium citizens. Now he's with a gun, running after his target, shooting him non-stop, all over Bruges's streets, in front of 4000 Belgium citizens!!! Obviously, it was a desire that scriptwriter / director (Martin McDonagh) had of filming a crazy action sequence a la Hollywood. Or maybe, the movie needed that to be sold, since shootouts look good in any trailer of a movie, especially this "no action, all talk" movie!
The one-eyed thief, who was half-blinded by (Farrell), runs into (Fiennes), who arrived to kill the same (Farrell), in the gun dealer's home accidentally, and in the same night that thief sees (Fiennes) getting into the tower accidentally, then sees (Farrell) near the same place, also accidentally (?) That was simply forced! Then, the midget wears as a little boy, stands right beside (Farrell) while he's being killed, takes a bullet in his head so his features may not be clear, so Mr. I-stick-to-my-principles shoots himself for killing a kid-all of that was tooooo forced to say the least! It surely weakened the solid movie, making its end no solid at all.
Various bothering points : a line said by (Farrell)'s character, while his anger in the restaurant; "He pauses, even though he should just hit the "...", and he repeats: Yes, I am talking to you. What's "..." unbelievable?!!" which was unbelievably intellectual for that character to say, fitting more the mentality of an author, or an actor, or an author who wanted to express his own character through an actor ! Add to that, naturally, the lasting waterfall of the F words, the blasphemy, and some obnoxious violence; these were points to hate, more than to bother, to tell you the truth!
(In Bruges) is a genre movie that goes beyond the entertainment of its genre. But exaggerating the portion of entertainment, at the end, harmed it. Hence, it ends up as a movie about Hit-men, purgation, and the contemporary western civilization, however with chaotic made-up ending. At any case, Hurray for that "script". If you watch many movies, you have to appreciate it, since it is not frequent to run into something like it, very.