Customer Reviews

In Bruges: A Screenplay

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I reviewed for Amazon the DVD "In Bruges" as well as a number of writer/director Martin McDonagh's black comedies which entertain audiences with their absurdist, inane dialogue and then shock them with violence, blood and gore. Ray and Ken are two hit men sent by Harry, their none-too-swift violent boss, to the city of Bruges, Belgium, a place full of medieval splendor with its 300 foot bell tower. Ray has botched his first hit by killing an innocent child, and Ken is sent with him to look after him.
Ray played by Colin Farrell in the film is more clownish and mugs for the camera which doesn't come over if you just read the script. Ray detests Bruges while Ken loves it, is a sightseer who insists that Ray see the cultural delights of the town including Bosch's "Last Judgment."
Every action and character contribute to the inevitable tragic ending. Nothing in the movie is irrelevant; all is interconnected and tied together as in a Euripides play.
A film crew is filming in the town; the crew includes Chloe, a drug dealer, whom Ray falls for, and a dwarf named Jimmy. Ray's violent nature is key to his downfall. He mindlessly attacks two men who later get back at him in very significant ways. At times Ray is guilt-ridden and suicidal.
The final scenes of the film are bloody and deadly. The death or defiling of a child are central to the story's action. The manner in which the key characters cross paths toward the end of the movie is fascinating. It's a brilliant piece of screenwriting because it has the inevitability of Greek tragedy
Even in the direst gun face-offs McDonagh can introduce his inane dialogue riffs that are his black comedy, absurdist hallmark. Two men about to kill one another engage in a comic routine they are unaware of just as in Beckett's "Waiting for Godot." In one scene men are talking about life and death and have a discussion about the difference between nooks and crannies versus alcoves.
McDonagh's work requires an acquired taste, but in this movie he has moved on to a larger audience. With his plays I think there's too much that is absurd and off-putting to find a general audience, and he'd never garner a sympathetic audience.

This was an amazing screenplay and I would recommend it to anyone. However, I ordered a 'NEW' copy, and the copy I got had a dented spine and bent corners. If the condition of the screenplay did not mean anything to me, I would have bought it used.

But as far as the content of this work, I cannot speak highly enough of it. It is masterful.

I great compliment to the brilliant movie, especially if want to know what they're saying in those thick accents ;) Great stuff!

Great characters, tightly written, the setting used to wonderful advantage, every dangling thread payed off. A truly great script.