If Sartre’s hell is other people, then according to McDonagh, purgatory is a place. A very specific place in Belgium - the town of Bruges on Christmas Eve. The author doesn’t even try to hide this metaphor. The characters themselves spell it out. They look at paintings by Hieronymus Bosch. Then they run among the extras dressed up as figures from the “Last Judgment”. The hint is so fat that it shouldn’t even attempt to climb the bell tower. But who decides where the soul goes after purgatory? Let's go back to the beginning of the trial. We’re exploring the narrow streets and scenic canals with Ken and Ray. Two hit men sent to Bruges by their boss, Harry. He tells them to lie low and wait for his call.
Ray fails his first assignment and considers the trip to be a punishment. As he empties a clip into his target, he accidentally shoots an innocent boy, whose worst sin is getting poor grades in math.
Despite a long career in eliminating anyone Harry doesn’t like, Ken has never made a mistake and goes to Bruges to keep an eye on Ray. He revels in the architecture and feasts upon the scanty paragraphs from the guidebook. But his companion is overcome with boredom and thirst. The only way to combat these enemies is to get to the nearest pub.
After his very first glass, melancholy gives way to adventure, starkly contrasting with the tempered life of the city. He persuades his partner to take a walk around Bruges at night. On the set of a local arthouse movie, Ray meets a mysterious stranger. He goes on a sweet, but sometimes violent date. He finds drugs and a gun, and gets drunk with a dwarf and some prostitutes. On the morning of the third day he goes to settle his debts with life. Ken doesn’t waste any time either. He receives instructions from Harry, learns about the alcoves from a local gun dealer, gets a pistol from him, and sets off to take out Ray. But Ray’s own suicide attempt thwarts the assassination. An escape attempt ends in his arrest. A second date is interrupted by a successful suicide. The chase leads the main characters to a hotel, where a gunfight is delayed by a feisty hostess. The bullets start flying once the combatants are out on the street, and in the final sequence we have an accidental victim and another suicide. It would seem that we have just watched a typical black comedy, with a bit of hatred for Americans and a racial war of dwarves. But what is the real mystery behind this bloody Christmas and why is this film a perfect example of working with a script?
Let's take it one step at a time. First, let's talk about Bruges’ defining feature - its interconnectedness. Then we’ll delve into the characters, the structure, and finally, we’ll decipher the twist ending.
Remember Chekhov's gun? If it’s hanging on the wall, sooner or later it’s going to shoot.
Martin McDonagh, like Chekhov, is a playwright, first and foremost.
That is why he learned to use this rule long before his first feature film. That means that every shot we see as the audience is a gun. There isn’t a single unnecessary scene. Each sequence is like a puzzle piece that will eventually fit into the big picture. Let's start with a simple example. While Ken is at the bell tower, Ray begins arguing with three obese Americans, and despite the advice he gives them, they head for the observation deck. Near the end of the movie, a guard informs the main characters that the staircase is closed, because of a tourist from the United States. A minute before the conflict, Ken is ten cents short for a five-euro ticket, so he puts the loose change back in his pockets. In the final sequence, he uses the coins to clear the area before jumping. In the previous scene, the guard pays a price for not keeping his fingers to himself.
Next, a meeting with a mysterious stranger, who secretly sells dope to local filmmakers while on set. Ken warns Ray that going to a restaurant on a date is a bad idea. And he's right.
First, Ray beats up a nosey couple sitting at the next table who get upset that his date is smoking. He punches the woman because she swings a bottle at him, which he considers to be a deadly weapon - something he had revealed to Ken a couple hours before. The next day, this same couple identifies him on a train and prevents him from leaving Bruges. But back to the date. Ray goes home with Chloe, as the stranger is called. At their most intimate moment, her boyfriend bursts into the apartment and tries to rob the would-be lover. Ray is clearly perturbed. He disarms the attacker and shoots him with a blank in the eye. The next day, the robber meets Harry and tells him his story, and that night he sees his accomplice and the guy who hurt him in a cafe. He immediately reports this to Harry. Well, these turns of events are all closely interwoven. Even in the final scene when Jimmy the dwarf becomes a casualty, it closes half a dozen story arcs. Firstly, Harry stays true to the code of honor that he mentions earlier in the film, and secondly, he mistakes Jimmy for a child because of the explosive rounds he got from the gun dealer.
He also reloads the magazine right before the final scene.
Thirdly, we find out much earlier that Jimmy will be wearing a school uniform. He meets the main characters in the same cafe, where they are later spotted by the one-eyed robber.
And finally, the dwarf is struck by a stray bullet only because he knows Ray, spent a weird night with him and sincerely wants to help his wounded comrade.
Yeah, it's a little complicated. And it proves just one thing - a good movie doesn’t need extra shots and sequences. Each scene should move the story along in the final cut. Every charming shot and hilarious joke is worthless if it doesn’t advance the plot.
And now on to the actors. Let's first take a look at what makes a character complete. In drama, there is a conflict underlying each character. Ray longs to bring an end to the guilt he feels, but doesn’t dare go through with it because of his love for life. Ken is Harry's faithful dog, but out of compassion for his comrade, he is prepared to betray his ideals. Harry is loyal to his principles and code of honor, but even he wants to forgive his friend. Even the secondary characters are endowed with conflicts, albeit simpler ones. Cunning Chloe is willing to give up a life of crime for love, and Jimmy hides his pleasant and sincere personality behind a tough exterior and drugs. Even the gunsmith from Eastern Europe likes to talk about architecture. The imposing hijacker turns out to be a mumbler, and the cute pregnant hotel hostess is able to tame two seasoned criminals. The inner experiences of the characters make them similar to us, because we live in constant contradictions and relate to these feelings when we see them on screen.
The idea for the film itself was born out of the director's internal conflict. When Martin McDonagh first visited Bruges, he was fascinated by the beauty of the city while at the same time feeling incredibly bored. His solution was to pay a visit to the nearest pub.
As a quick sidenote, the power of conflict extends beyond the inner world of the characters. We won’t go into details about plot diagrams. Everyone who didn’t skip literature class knows about the rising action, climax, falling action, and resolution. But what we may not realize is that this same structure is used in each individual sequence. Take, for example, the restaurant scene.
In the beginning, Chloe and Rey are talking, we get to know her and the surrounding environment. In the rising action, a man appears at the next table over, who is irritated by Chloe’s smoking. As soon as Chloe leaves for the restroom, the climax begins, ending in two well-placed blows from Ray. In the resolution, the hero explains to Chloe what happened and receives a kiss as a reward.
This structure is present in every scene, without exception. But back to the characters. Ray is the protagonist of “In Bruges”. His internal conflict is the central axis around which the story revolves. It is he who is in purgatory, where his soul is judged. As in any court, in Bruges there is a defense side and a prosecution side. An angel and a demon, if you will. Ken urges his partner to atone for his guilt with good deeds, to find forgiveness in an honest and righteous life, to abandon the idea of suicide, because it wouldn’t fix anything, but would only add one more sin to his collection. Meanwhile, Harry demands “an eye for an eye” from Ray. Because he has taken the life of an innocent boy, he too, must be sent to the afterlife as soon as possible. In the ending sequence, he even demonstrates what Ray should have done. The characters form a triangle of opposing sides, each with their allies who help their own “leaders”, so to speak. Chloe and Jimmy side with Ray. The owner of the hotel is connected to Ken, and Harry is helped by an arms dealer and reckless attacker. At the heart of this seemingly simple crime comedy is an intricate, yet logical pattern, whose Christian undertones are responsible for the film’s depth and hidden meanings. The struggle for one’s soul. Forgiveness and redemption. But where does a soul go after purgatory? If you play the movie back and listen as Ray gives his final monologue... The answer is - nowhere. The protagonist is doomed to repeat a cycle of terrible coincidences, which will inevitably land him in an ambulance. There’s a reason we hear Ray's voice in the opening and closing scenes. Well, that's the darkest version of the answer.
The second version is happier. Ken wins and Ray redeems himself, because he comes up with a punishment and desperately fights for life. His last words “I really hoped I wouldn’t die” symbolize his desire to atone for his sins and not be lost to oblivion. The third version is my favorite. Who was an impartial witness to all of the main character’s misfortunes? Who could see his true intentions and the level of his remorse? It was only the viewer, the most incorruptible and honest judge, who could deliver the verdict as soon as the end credits began to roll. Will Ray remain forever trapped in this limbo? Will he ascend to heaven or go down to hell? You decide. The final chord of “In Bruges” turns the picture into something more - a story where you get to write the last lines of the script.