In Bruges

A flawlessly balanced blend of tragic drama and smart comedy. A film with a (literal) fairytale atmosphere so intense that it fully engulfs you. It’s a little unrealistic – in fact, you aren’t supposed to root for any of the characters, and yet, they are all quite likeable – but all the more charming for that. I was fancying something exactly like this and this film really hit the spot. Which is good, any other day I probably would not give it a full rating, and that would be a shame. (08/01/2008)

I saw the trailer for In Bruges when I happened to arrive a bit early for Iron Man and, well, it captured my attention. What’s so special about that? Nothing. But it never happened to me before. I usually watch trailers in the peace of my home, so I know what’s going on (thanks to the guys at MovieZone ;-). Long story short, the movie me even more than the excellent trailer. Two hired killers arrive in a medieval town full of historical monuments for a holiday. And one of them is carrying a memory with him of the last murder, which went wrong in the worst possible way. Collin Farrell and Brendan Gleeson both excel throughout, joined from the second half of the movie by Ralph Fiennes, who I’ve never heard as foulmouthed as he was here. Well I have to take my hat off to the director Martin McDonagh. His debut is already among the best movies produced this year. (06/12/2008)

Over the past 12 months, this was my strongest cinematic experience alongside the animated movie Persepolis, and is all the more pleasant because it was practically unexpected. A great screenplay, interesting casting, excellent performances, and very well-written dialogues, not only for its genre, where several excellent quotes appear that have the chance to gain cult status. It is a film that clearly distinguishes itself from the genre mainstream while still being appealing to the audience. Black humor, several exciting duels, and unexpected twists. This film was much more attractive to me than the much more discussed American Gangster. I have practically no objections to it. Overall impression: 100%. The purely European atmosphere of an ancient city full of monuments, weary tourists, and small-town mentality also plays a role. (06/29/2008)

In his feature movie debut, McDonagh gives us exactly what a viewer well-versed in his shorts (or in his frequently staged plays) would expect. Just the restricted room of one train is replaced by the historical center of Bruges, plus a racist dwarf and the phenomenal Rúaidhrí Conroy is replaced by Colin Farrell. I would just like to know what the very numerous community of Vietnamese dwarves living in Canada would have said to this Irish rampaging in Belgium. They must be just as thrilled as our Prague Vietnamese community who were jubilant at the movie theater. And why not, indeed. Although there are no real negatives in this movie, his theatre plays seem to me to be just slightly better (especially “The Pillow Man", not to mention “The Lonesome West"). (05/08/2008)

If the whole film hadn't been a persistent effort to show "Look how amazingly original and funny dialogues I can write!", I would have rated it more positively, because the melancholic mood that permeates it was very good (for that and for my favourite Brendan Gleeson 3*). Apparently some people are satisfied with the wannabe deep dialogues about the clash of white and black dwarves and don't mind that the main characters behave like idiots, but I am not and so I won't join the crowd of satisfied viewers. The hardly believable conversation after the jump from the tower and the final act of the gangster Waters fall somewhere into the realms of absurd self-parody a la Monty Python (06/12/2008)