In Bruges (2008) Limited Edition Blu-ray
Following a job that’s gone very badly wrong, two hitmen Ray (Colin Farrell) and Ken (Brendan Gleeson) are sent to Bruges by their boss Harry (Ralph Fiennes) and told to hide out and await instructions. Ken falls in love with the cobbled streets and canals of the picturesque city but for Ray it’s torturous boredom and he spends his time upsetting everyone he encounters from locals and tourists. When the call finally comes from Harry it may not be the ticket out they were hoping for.
Landing on 19 August 2019 In Bruges Limited Edition features stunning packaging, with new artwork by Thomas Walker, who also designed the exclusive cover for the Faber and Faber screenplay included with the release, alongside a 50-page soft cover book. There’s a slew of special features including McDonagh’s Oscar Winning Short Film Six Shooter in HD and more.
I recall toddling along to the local flicks to see In Bruges upon its initial theatrical release. I was twenty minutes in when I realised that I had my timings wrong for a subsequent coach journey and had to leave and miss the remainder of the film. The opening moments weren’t exactly grabbing my attention so it wasn’t killing me inside have to leave the cinema, and besides as I worked at the arts centre it was showing at I had my ticket for free so I wasn’t like it had cost me anything. Based on those muddled twenty minutes or so that I had viewed I wasn’t exactly clamouring to see what I may have missed and it wasn’t until a friend rented it out for our evening’s movie viewing that I begrudgingly sat through the whole film.
And I was right, In Bruges DOES take a good while to find its feet, tripping over itself so as not to reveal too much about our central duo and their reason for being sent to Bruges. However, once everything comes together it’s a lean, mean dark violent comedy that both shocks and surprises whilst utterly charming the pants off you. It also afforded us the opportunity to see Colin Farrell do something that at the time his celebrity status had overshadowed – he can actually act! Teamed up with the always brilliant Brendan Gleeson and you have one of the more touching comedy duos in recent cinema history. Both were nominated for Golden Globes for Best Actor – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy with Farrell taking home the gong.
Written and directed by Martin McDonagh (Three Bill Boards Outside Ebbing Missouri) his screenplay for this film was featured in the 2006 Blacklist – a list of the ‘most liked’ unmade scripts of the year. With the word ‘fuck’, and variations of, said one-hundred and twenty-six times, averaging an average of 1.18 ‘fucks’ per minute it was certainly made for one of the more colourful screenplays doing the rounds. His script went on to won the BAFTA Original Screenplay award and receive a nomination in the same category at the Academy Awards. There are nods to Pinter’s 1957 play The Dumb Waiter, Nicolas Roeg’s 1973 flick Don’t Look Now and heavily references the work of Hieronymus Bosch too – it’s a wonderfully detailed and multi-layered script and one of the best of the new millennia.
In Bruges is exquisitely photographed, touchingly played and boasts three standout performances from three actors at the top of their game. The writing is so detailed and the dialogue so rich, and endlessly quotable, that this is one film that really does merit repeat viewings. Oh and there’s a plethora of extras to make this limited edition worth your hard-earned cash if you haven’t already got this mighty black-comedy lurking in your collection.
Special Features
Six Shooter: Martin McDonagh’s Oscar Winning Short Film in HD
Shoot First, Sightsee Later: A New Interview With Director of Photography Eigil Bryld
Finding the Rhythm: A New Interview With Editor Jon Gregory
Finding Bruges: A New Interview With Production Designer Michael Carlin
The Alcove Guy: A New Interview With Actor Eric Godon
When in Bruges – interviews with cast and crew and on-set footage
Strange Bruges – interviews with cast and crew and on-set footage
Deleted Scenes
Boat Trip Around Bruges
Gag Reel
Optional English subtitles for the hard of hearing
Limited Edition Contents
Rigid slipcase featuring new artwork by Thomas Walker
Faber and Faber screenplay with exclusive cover artwork by Thomas Walker
50 page soft cover book with new writing by Ian Christie, Dr Eamonn Jordan (author of From Leenane to LA: The Theatre and Cinema of Martin McDonagh) and Bomb Magazine archive interview with Martin McDonagh