For our Opening Night Presentation, we are delighted to introduce
one of the most anticipated and astonishing new films of the
year. Academy Award-winning writer/director Martin McDonagh
takes audiences on a killingly funny trip In Bruges, which is worldpremiering
as the opening-night film of the 2008 Sundance Film
Festival. Mr. McDonagh makes his feature directorial debut on the
film, from his own original screenplay. His plays (which include
The Lieutenant of Inishmore and The Pillowman) have brought him
two Olivier Awards and four Tony Award nominations. He wrote
and directed Six Shooter, starring Brendan Gleeson, which earned
him the 2006 Academy Award for Best Live-Action Short Film.
In Bruges was filmed on location; Bruges (pronounced “broozh”),
the most well-preserved medieval city in the whole of Belgium , is
a welcoming destination for travellers from all over the world. But
for hit men Ray (Colin Farrell) and Ken (Brendan Gleeson), it could
be their final destination; a difficult job has resulted in the pair
being ordered right before Christmas by their London boss Harry
(two-time Academy Award nominee Ralph Fiennes) to go and cool
their heels in the storybook Flemish city for a couple of weeks.
Very much out of place amidst the gothic architecture, canals, and
cobbled streets, the two hit men fill their days living the lives of
tourists. Ray, still haunted by the bloodshed in London , hates the
place, while Ken, even as he keeps a fatherly eye on Ray’s often
profanely funny exploits, finds his mind and soul being expanded
by the beauty and serenity of the city. But the longer they stay
waiting for Harry’s call, the more surreal their experience becomes,
as they find themselves in weird encounters with locals, tourists,
violent medieval art, a dwarf American actor (Jordan Prentice)
shooting a European art film, Dutch prostitutes, and a potential
romance for Ray in the form of Chloë (Clémence Poésy), who
may have some dark secrets of her own. And when the call from
Harry does finally come, Ken and Ray’s vacation becomes a lifeand-
death struggle of darkly comic proportions and surprisingly
emotional consequences.
