Review of In Bruges (2008) by Laurence J — 10 Dec 2017

A great little crime drama by MacDonagh. The two characters, Ken and Ray, are on an assigned vacation by their boss, Harry, who sent them to Belgium to see the sights. Bruges is a preserved medieval city in Belgium that's Gothic architecture and art shows the turmoil of heaven and hell on Earth. Ken and Ray's personal histories are revealed, and we see how and why they ended up where they are. Bruges' buildings, streets and waterways, and alcoves (don't forget the alcoves), are used effectively, showing us different parts of the town as the story progresses. The characters travel through different parts of the city as it shifts from exhibition and majestic through architecture to present and modern through the people, both residents and transients. City sites change as the characters' perceptions shifts from the prosaic to the artfully mythic. Several characters intersect Ken and Ray's story providing intertwining subplots, including a third act shift, until the entire plot is straightened out in the end.

The sparse comedy is sardonic, acerbic, and dark, which lets the characters be humorously insulting, though that may be an endearing Irish sentiment from an Irish director. I don't know.