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In Bruges: Special Edition
R4 - Australia - Warner Home Video Review written by and copyright: Josh Cleary & Noor Razzak (27th May 2009). |
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The Film
 So. "In Bruges" (it's in Belgium). This is, without a shadow of a doubt, my pick for movie of 2008. For the boys it has wise-cracking hit men, a thrilling chase scene, a shootout, intriguingly good looking Belgian women, a drug addicted midget (or dwarf as he prefers) and a healthy dose of good old fashioned male bonding. For the girls it has sweet romance, awkward first dates, complicated relationships and enough introspection on the nature of right and wrong, the future and the afterlife. It also has Colin Farrell at his ruggedly charming best. Speaking of Colin Farrell, he was an actor who seemed destined to be a true star on the Hollywood scene. Talented, outspoken, handsome and a bit of a bad boy. And then something happened. Well actually "Daredevil" (2003) and "S.W.A.T." (2003) happened. I think the less said about these tragic wastes of film stock the better. But fear not! "In Bruges" reminded me that in fact Colin could act. It is a tour de force of his ability to handle a brilliant character progression. He handles his fall from smart mouthed hit man to helplessly lovestruck fool to depressed penitent with ease and style. Brendan Gleeson is also a fantastic watch. He moves with the grace of a ballet dancer from a drudging, moody sightseer to a father figure to a truly inspirational martyr with the aplomb that only the truly stoic UK actor can bring to a role. His straight man balances perfectly against Farrell's one liners, and when he delivers some absolutely golden lines of his own they are delivered with the sort of sneering disdain for the people he is lambasting that you can't help but think that he would be fantastic to have a drink with. But his serious moments are touching in a way that you keep thinking about him long after the final credits have rolled away. Ralph Fiennes brings an incredible gravitas to the role of Harry Waters. When he is livid with anger you can truly imagine him doing terrible, inhuman, unforgivable things to the focal point of his anger. But when he speaks to his family he is the perfect family man. Gentle with his children and caring towards his wife. His reasoning behind sending Ray and Ken to Bruges is curiously innocent and well meaning, and his iron clad principles that he sticks to are a clear indication of a man who has made a decision to live by his own rules and not society's even if it kills him. It would be difficult to review this movie without talking about Bruges. It forms the center piece of the film and serves its purpose admirably. Its medieval and touristy rustic charm all add to the soul of this beautiful little picture. It does, however, seem to me that writer/director Martin McDonagh had created a perfect story sometime before he discovered Bruges and then planted it there when it came on his radar. This is not to detract from the movie at all. In fact if anything it adds to it. The story feels like it has been lovingly crafted from excellent materials and then polished within an inch of its life to create a true masterpiece of modern cinema. However for me the true genius of this movie, in both its writing and its performances, is the fact that it can go from laugh out loud hilarity to tear jerking seriousness in literally the blink of an eye. And it feels incredibly natural. You feel completely at home with these characters. They remind you of friends or people you have met. Their problems are relateable. Their decisions and crises feel like we have all been through them, or something very much like them. I guess if there was a way to sum up this poignant, touching, entertaining and frequently hilarious movie it would be, excellent. Unashamedly, unabashed excellence for your viewing pleasure. See it. You will be doing yourself a favor. You can thank me for the recommendation later.
Video
Presented in the film's original theatrical ratio of 2.35:1 this image is solid for standard definition. The image is sharp and crisp, the drab and grey tones of the city are perfectly captured here. Skin tones are accurate, black levels are bold and there's hardly any noise. The print is clean from dirt and specks and there were no compression related problems that I could find. Overall it's a great transfer to an already excellent film.
Audio
A single English Dolby Digital 5.1 surround track is included. The surround audio is very good as well matching the excellent image quality. Dialogue is clear and distortion free, ambient sounds are wonderfully mixed into the surrounds adding a subtle yet immersive feel to the film. The score adds to the layers of this mix and never overwhelms the dialogue. It's a fine presentation and can only stand to improve with a HD audio mix (which is included on the Blu-ray release of this film). Optional subtitles are included in English only.
Extras
First up are a series of deleted and extended scenes which play in a reel that runs a total of 18 minutes 4 seconds, most of these scenes were rightly cut from the film as they add very little to the overall plot, they include: - "Scene A8" Ken tries to convince Ray to get into the carriage for a ride. - "Scene 9" More sightseeing of Benedictine buildings, Ray complains about wanting a beer. - "Scene 12" Ray looks at a sculpture of the four horsemen of the apocalypse as he and ken talk about the horsemen and walk across the smallest bridge in the city. - "Scene 17" Ray wanders the streets drunk and finds a discarded toy bear on the street. - "Scene 31-32" Ray quietly watches come choir kids in the street, Ken joins him. - "Scene 33" Ray tells Ken that he's nervous about his date and his drinking plans to calm his nerves. - "Scene 41" Ray and Ken in the hotel room, neither can sleep as they overhear someone having sex in the next room. - "Scene 45-48" Ray calls Chloë (Clémence Poésy) asking about bullets and to say goodbye. Later Ken has a drink and there's a flashback scene of Harry and Ken back in the 70's, Harry walks into the Police station and kills a Detective. - "Scene 58" Harry is rude to a fellow passenger on the train. - "Scene 60-63" Harry walks around Bruges and reminisces back to his childhood when he was first there. - "Scene 67-69" these are additional scenes of Ray and Chloë on their date, she convinces him to come back to her place. - "Full Length Scene 8" is an extended scene of Ray and Ken's boat ride around the city. - "Full Length Scene 22" is an extended scenes of Ray and Ken's breakfast scene where they decide what to do, striking a balance between culture and fun. The first of the featurettes is "A Boat Trip Around Bruges" which runs for 5 minutes 41 seconds. This is a first person perspective boat ride as factual information about the city of Bruges streams across the screen. There's nothing in here about the film, but it does provide a nice but brief background on the city and its history. Finally the second featurette is "F**king Bruges" and runs for a short 1 minute 34 seconds, this is essentially a montage of footage featuring the moments where Ray talks about Bruges being shit.
Overall
This DVD is listed as being a 'Special Edition" yet a lot of the extras from the American Region 1 and UK Region 2 have been dropped from this release, which begs the question - 'is this really a special edition?' the answer is no, it's not. Still the film is brilliant... so it's up to you whether you want to track down the other region release or stick with this one.
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