Post by klep on Dec 5, 2016 7:40:30 GMT -6
MOVIE OF THE WEEK for 12/5: In Bruges
Advertising can be deceiving. If you went to the theaters to see In Bruges based on its trailers, you were expecting a rousing shoot-em-up in the vein of a Guy Ritchie film. You thought it would be funny. You thought it would be light. You were right, and you were wrong.
In Bruges is not a lark. It quickly becomes apparent that Ray's impetuousness and anxiousness is rooted in a deep guilt. In the prosecution of his first hit, Ray accidentally killed a child. It's a powerful guilt that he can hardly keep from consuming him. The cruel irony of it is that the only reason he's been sent to Bruges is that his boss Harry (Ralph Feinnes) wants him to have one last good time before he has him killed. Harry's a principled man, you see, and can't just let someone who's killed a child go on living.
So you see In Bruges is funny, it just operates in a mode of black irony. Ray and Ken meet a dwarf, and he turns out to be a racist. Ray has been sent to Bruges for a good time and he hates Bruges. Harry calls and demands Ken send Ray out, forcing Ken to go through an elaborate song & dance to pretend Ray wasn't already gone.
All of that is incidental and funny. But the irony runs through the main plot as well and is impossible to escape. Beyond the inciting incident, there's Ken stopping Ray from killing himself right when Ken was about to do the job himself, Ken and Harry making peace because Ken is just too damn accepting of it for Harry to kill him, Ken dying anyway because Ray ended up back in Bruges, and the final coup - Harry killing himself after mistakenly believing he accidentally killed a kid the same way Ray did.
Through the film then is a question. Ray started a career as a hitman, knowing what it meant. Now that he's fucked it up, does he deserve a chance to start over? Martin McDonagh has presented us with two possible paths. One, Ray dies from his wounds, and at least vengeance (if not justice) has been delivered upon a worthless sinner. In the other, Ray recovers and faces a potential life with Chloe (Clémence Poésy) or confession and repentance. Colin Farrell's magnificent performance makes us intimately familiar with the pain and regret and turmoil he's feeling, so we have all the information we need. Does Ray deserve a second chance?
OUR NEXT MOVIE OF THE WEEK for 12/12: The New World
We had our first tie in a while last night, and I'm throwing it to Terrence Malick's The New World largely because I haven't seen it and I want to. This is the kind of power I get to exercise for running this feature. So strap yourselves in for a couple hours of soft, meditative narration over beautiful images of the mid-Atlantic coast. The New World is available for rent on Amazon Instant Video, though it is not free for Prime members.
NEXT PICTURE SHOW PODCAST for 11/29-12/1: Contact/Arrival
We'll cover both of these films this week on Tuesday and Wednesday. Arrival is still in theaters and Contact is available on Netflix Instant and for rent on Amazon Instant Video, though it is not free for Prime members.
Advertising can be deceiving. If you went to the theaters to see In Bruges based on its trailers, you were expecting a rousing shoot-em-up in the vein of a Guy Ritchie film. You thought it would be funny. You thought it would be light. You were right, and you were wrong.
In Bruges is not a lark. It quickly becomes apparent that Ray's impetuousness and anxiousness is rooted in a deep guilt. In the prosecution of his first hit, Ray accidentally killed a child. It's a powerful guilt that he can hardly keep from consuming him. The cruel irony of it is that the only reason he's been sent to Bruges is that his boss Harry (Ralph Feinnes) wants him to have one last good time before he has him killed. Harry's a principled man, you see, and can't just let someone who's killed a child go on living.
So you see In Bruges is funny, it just operates in a mode of black irony. Ray and Ken meet a dwarf, and he turns out to be a racist. Ray has been sent to Bruges for a good time and he hates Bruges. Harry calls and demands Ken send Ray out, forcing Ken to go through an elaborate song & dance to pretend Ray wasn't already gone.
All of that is incidental and funny. But the irony runs through the main plot as well and is impossible to escape. Beyond the inciting incident, there's Ken stopping Ray from killing himself right when Ken was about to do the job himself, Ken and Harry making peace because Ken is just too damn accepting of it for Harry to kill him, Ken dying anyway because Ray ended up back in Bruges, and the final coup - Harry killing himself after mistakenly believing he accidentally killed a kid the same way Ray did.
Through the film then is a question. Ray started a career as a hitman, knowing what it meant. Now that he's fucked it up, does he deserve a chance to start over? Martin McDonagh has presented us with two possible paths. One, Ray dies from his wounds, and at least vengeance (if not justice) has been delivered upon a worthless sinner. In the other, Ray recovers and faces a potential life with Chloe (Clémence Poésy) or confession and repentance. Colin Farrell's magnificent performance makes us intimately familiar with the pain and regret and turmoil he's feeling, so we have all the information we need. Does Ray deserve a second chance?
OUR NEXT MOVIE OF THE WEEK for 12/12: The New World
We had our first tie in a while last night, and I'm throwing it to Terrence Malick's The New World largely because I haven't seen it and I want to. This is the kind of power I get to exercise for running this feature. So strap yourselves in for a couple hours of soft, meditative narration over beautiful images of the mid-Atlantic coast. The New World is available for rent on Amazon Instant Video, though it is not free for Prime members.
NEXT PICTURE SHOW PODCAST for 11/29-12/1: Contact/Arrival
We'll cover both of these films this week on Tuesday and Wednesday. Arrival is still in theaters and Contact is available on Netflix Instant and for rent on Amazon Instant Video, though it is not free for Prime members.