In Bruges - A Hilarious Dark Tale

In Bruges - A Hilarious Dark Tale

To me, the film In Bruges at first seemed rather dull. It felt as though it would be another b-movie comedy, only this time taking place in a boring European city – the main character of the film even agreed the city of Bruges was an old boring capital. Though by the end of the film I was moved away – what I’d thought was a comedy was not humorously or happily ended, but rather dark, grim and quite sad. I had indeed come to love this film.

The character Ray and his unique expressions delivered a lot of the comedic elements, and along with the second main character Ken, brought together an expression of comedy, friendship and betrayal all together portrayed very well. The ever-present theme and the sombre soundtrack in its own way characterised the city. The location being a quiet capital of Europe centred around tourist attraction posed a unique stance of setting.

The film as hilarious as it appeared delivered some dark themes: Ray’s suicidal tendencies brought about by his killing of an innocent child as discovered later on – a tragedy, bringing the idea of accepted repentance forth to be questioned. I as an observer of the events thought that Ray deserved to be forgiven, but the ending may argue elsewise – whether Ray survives his fatal wounds, whether his mistakes were forgiven, it is not known, but it seemed Ray had forgiven himself and wanted to live. And thus, I believe one of the messages portrayed by In Bruges is to forgive yourself for any wrongdoings and to try to live, leaving fate to guide you, whether that be good or bad, but also shaping it as you go along, and learning from the past.