February 28, 2008

In Bruges

Talented actors + twisted morals + fairytale setting = Theater of the Obscene

This movie created several mixed reactions for me. First of all, I liked the dark comedy, particularly to poking of fun at American tourists, but the violence was too much, too sudden, and too cavalier for me. I could suspend my disbelief, but not as far as the script writer wanted. I giggled at many of the jokes, but then I immediately felt bad about it, as many of them were racial and all of them very un-P.C. (I am not sure whether this is a truly negative thing, but I won't expand on our (Lunanshee feels this way too), that political correctness does go too far).

All in all, I would tell anyone who wants to see it that if they can wait until video, I will be fairly certain that they will enjoy it. Lunanshee said that she wasn't at all interested, and I am glad now that I did not make her see it with me.

I think that all of the best parts of the movie were included in the preview. Curiously enough, this is not really a bad thing. I still think that Colin Farrell's line about why Bruges does not impress him is the best in the entire script, given his snarky delivery.

The characters were definitely different, particularly from each other. The one thing that unified them is that they all clung to their ideas of "what is right", despite being in professions that demanded that they kill people. It was a bit surreal watching them cling so fiercely to their 'morals' while being so brutal at other times. The ending is a product of this, as absurd as it felt to watch. I would like to hear from someone else whether they think that the person being put into the ambulance at the end lives or not. I would like to think that he doesn't.
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Naps-a-lot Bear said...

It was also pretty funny to watch actors who play Mad-Eye Moody and Voldemort squaring off for a showdown at the top of a tower. Fortunately, their characters in this movie are nothing like those other roles, but the thought did occur briefly to me. (I think they are pretty perfect for their HP roles!)

The dialog was not at all kind about young children/teenagers, particularly tween boys; there were several slurs in the movie that referred to children between the ages of 10 and about 13. Gay people (male homosexuals in particular, it can be inferred) were also slandered for comic effect. Some of it touched on the amusing, but most of it was just plain insulting. Is suppose the characters were written as MANLY MEN, the kind that use blustering homophobia to assert their burliness. It got old, quickly. We are not meant to think that these three men hold anyone in very high esteem, even themselves. One of the themes of the movie was the possibility of redemption, but there was so little attention actually paid to this idea and only by one of the characters that it was almost an afterthought. Leaving it out of the movie would have produced less muddy waters, but perhaps the charm and quirk of the script lies in the way it tugs you frequently back and forth between wanting to like the characters and being disgusted by them a minute later.

Strangely though, I could identify with some aspects of Fiennes' and Farrell's perspectives on the town of Bruges. They thought it was a a fairytale or proof that Purgatory (or Hell) is real, respectively. I wondered how Bruges would appear to Fiennes' Harry, who remembered it so fondly from his childhood, then came back as an adult on a grim mission. For Farrell, I can see why a person (particularly such a callous and pugnacious person) would not care for the quaint and aesthetic quietness of the tourist town. I think just about everything about being there frustrated his character, Ray.

Most of all, I wonder how much tourism will increase there, as a result of the movie. If you had asked me where the town was, I would not have been able to tell you...and that is why I blog about movies and not geography!

February 28, 2008 at 12:08 PM

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