In Bruges (Brugge) review

So sitting quiet happily in lecture as you do and the lecturer pops in a DVD... instantly my eyes looked away from my MacBook Pro and facebook to see the DVD menu for In Bruges.

Basically we were watching it from a scriptwriting point of view to analyse structure of narrative and to pick up ln particular themes running the film as you do as a student! 

What hit me at first that it was a Film 4 motion picture and to say that the British Film Industry has now become an export of skilled professionals in the art of film production it was refreshing to see a film that was made and produced by a British team. 

The film itself was set in the lovely, picturesque city of Brugge Belgium (spelling it the Flemish way), with it's medieval architecture and canals which is why the city is famous.  The film is about 2 hit men who are sent to Brugge to carry out a contracted hit for the main villain Harry (Played by Lord Voldemort and M himself Ralf Fiennes). What they don't realise is after a series of events leading up to this trip to Belgium will lead one hit-man to commit suicide to save the other.

What struck me from the offset is how the narrative is dictated by the dialogue which is unusual for any type of film. When looking at the narrative it's the characters stand out the most. The characters are important and it's their underlying story lines that make this film what it is.

Colin Farrell's character Ryan is our main protagonist and in the film we find out what events have lead him to be in Brugge. Ryan is characteristically child like which can be seen through his dialogue. He is very childlike, repeating sentences and asking numerous amounts on questions that have been explained to him time and time again.  He realises on another Hit- Man who is in a way a father figure to him and this relationship is tested in the film from start to finish.
I must say nothing is plain sailing and as the film progresses there is more and more reveals that makes example of the theme.

The theme is of Religion and focuses on the Catholic Faith, there are many signatures in the film and Brugge is used a separate and important character in this to show this theme. It is not made obvious why Brugge is linked to this theme, but uses the beautiful churches in the city as a focus.


I did love this film but this was from my experiences in Brugge and taking a trip down memory lane.
I loved the narrative and the characterisation of this film and would recommend that people should watch it.