In Bruges

I saw the trailer for In Bruges when I happened to arrive a bit early for Iron Man and, well, it captured my attention. What’s so special about that? Nothing. But it never happened to me before. I usually watch trailers in the peace of my home, so I know what’s going on (thanks to the guys at MovieZone ;-). Long story short, the movie me even more than the excellent trailer. Two hired killers arrive in a medieval town full of historical monuments for a holiday. And one of them is carrying a memory with him of the last murder, which went wrong in the worst possible way. Collin Farrell and Brendan Gleeson both excel throughout, joined from the second half of the movie by Ralph Fiennes, who I’ve never heard as foulmouthed as he was here. Well I have to take my hat off to the director Martin McDonagh. His debut is already among the best movies produced this year. (2008-06-12)

Melancholic, funny, bloody... It takes quite a bit of talent to give such inter-genre pirouettes a sequence and elegance that doesn't automatically hit the weak spots. True, the film does ruthlessly pick its weaker moments. Especially in those long-winded dialogues about "nothing," which are supposed to be very cool, but paradoxically more so disturb the special mood of the film, which is created by the city and the absolutely fantastic actors. Whether you admit it or not, this Belgian postcard has something to it. (2010-05-11)

At first glance, I can’t avoid the idea that this film doesn't belong in the major leagues. However, upon longer reflection, I am coming closer and closer to the conclusion that the script is simply unique and there are not many better films in the comedy-drama category in our cinemas these days. Either way, the Brits have once again pulled it off and clearly prove that their dry humour far exceeds the impotent American entertainment of recent years. A thoroughly intimate, human, beautifully told and, above all, superbly acted story about a group of strange individuals whose strange mindset is put to the ultimate test in the form of the strangest city in the world. It may sound contrived, but Martin McDonagh has created a truly hard-to-describe film whose final half hour I would not hesitate to place high in the hall of fame of world cinema. Perhaps the creators could have done without the conversation after the jump from the tower:)) P.S. For the second time I raise the rating to full, this film is really powerful... (2012-06-17)

If the whole film hadn't been a persistent effort to show "Look how amazingly original and funny dialogues I can write!", I would have rated it more positively, because the melancholic mood that permeates it was very good (for that and for my favourite Brendan Gleeson 3*). Apparently some people are satisfied with the wannabe deep dialogues about the clash of white and black dwarves and don't mind that the main characters behave like idiots, but I am not and so I won't join the crowd of satisfied viewers. The hardly believable conversation after the jump from the tower and the final act of the gangster Waters fall somewhere into the realms of absurd self-parody a la Monty Python (2008-06-12)

For some heaven, for others hell, purgatory for all. An intimate existential gangster film about guilt, forgiveness and rectification, which evolves in a riveting way from a romantic tourist tour of Flemish beauties to a distorted Bosch canvas. Brendan Gleeson's heavy-duty fatherly performance, Colin Farrel's affectively childish creation, and the old-fashioned principle embodied by Ralph Fiennes – and the carefully constructed theatrical dialogues around them, a fantastically embodied image and an intense atmosphere that is closely related to the way filmmakers use Flemish Gothic. McDonagh shows off his dramatic talent (in places, it's more of a theatrical play in a riveting film version), but at the same time he doesn't hold back the magic of cinematic speech (brilliant work with narrative dynamics). As a result, modest In Bruges grows into a complex cinematic metaphor, the Bosch punchline of which is as beautiful as it is chilling. Names like Ritchie and Tarantino may be heard here, but that doesn't change the fact that McDonagh is unpretentious and thoughtfully his own. P.S. I don't know why, but somehow I've got a desire for this guy to make a Bond movie... perhaps with Colin. (2010-11-10)