"In Bruges" Movie Review

Last night I watched the film In Bruges, having no idea what to expect – I had purposely not read anything about the plot or who was in the film. To my surprise, whose face should appear at the beginning of the film – Colin Ferrell and my initial thought was ugh – this is going to be a long hour and forty-five minutes. I was wrong. Colin Ferrell, Brendan Gleeson and Ralph Fines were fantastic in the film – something I have come to expect of Gleeson and Fines, but was blown away by Ferrell. The film was well acted, well directed and well shot. Here is a synopsis and my thoughts on In Bruges.

In Bruges is a humorous film about two hitmen visiting Bruges, Belgium. Ken (played by Brendan Gleeson – whom I always enjoy) and Ray (Ferrell) are a study in contrasts, with Ken wanting to sightsee in Bruges and take in the beauty and history of the city. Ray on the other hand cannot imagine a worse place to be than Bruges and would prefer to spend his time in the pub. When Ray meets Chloe, it appears that he is going to enjoy Bruges a little more, but that feeling is short lived.
The crux of In Bruges lies in the internal struggle of Ray over the accidental killing of a young boy during his first hit. Ray is troubled and wracked with guilt over accidentally killing the boy, but seemingly unaffected by his murder of the priest. In killing the boy, Ray has broken a principle that Harry (Ray’s boss) lives by and Harry orders Ken to kill Ray. Harry’s principle is that if he would have killed the boy, he would have killed himself right then and there.

As Ken goes to fulfill Harry’s demand, Ray is about to commit suicide because he is so troubled by his own actions. Ken decides that he cannot kill Ray and cannot let Ray kill himself. In a self-sacrifice, Ken puts Ray on a train and waits for Harry to show up and take his vengeance. Of course, nothing goes as planned, Ray ends up back in Bruges due to prior events, Harry shoots Ken (who jumps from a bell-tower) and Ray only to end up shooting himself, thinking he had accidentally killed an innocent boy (who was really a dwarf dressed up as a school boy). The film ends with Ray providing narration as he is lifted into an ambulance. In a change of heart, he now wants to live – and certainly does not want to die and spend an eternity in Bruges.

I really enjoyed In Bruges, and found it to be a film I could easily theologically dialogue with. For me, the character of Ray illuminated the truth of an individual’s struggle with sin, guilt and consequences. In the film, Ray was certainly living in a depressing and guilt-wracked world, which he could see no escape except death. While it was not overt, I thought Ray found redemption at the end of In Bruges, through the sacrifice of Ken and the relationship with Chloe – he was able to move beyond his guilt, depression and desire for death to a desire to live. I think about my own life, there are things I wish I could undo, sin I wish I could uncommit and I identify with Ray – when I try to deal with all of this on my own, it weighs me down into a dark and ugly place. However, through the self-sacrifice of Jesus Christ and loving relationships of family, friends and a church community I am able to find redemption.