In Bruges

In Bruges stars my look-a-like, Colin Farrell, along with Ray Feinnes and Brendan Gleeson. Farrell plays Ray, a killer who accidentally shot a boy during his first hit. So Ray's boss sends him and his colleague, Ken (Gleeson), to a small town in Belgium called Bruges, a very well preserved Medieval "wonderland." They are hiding out until things calm down and their boss Harry (Feinnes) figures out what to do.

The Medieval setting is quite apropos because the film centers around the idea of Purgatory. Purgatory, of course, is the Catholic idea of an in between after-life, one in which sinners can work off their sins and eventually enter into paradise (for further investigation, I highly recommend Dante's Purgatorio). Ray hates Bruges, he is stuck there and it's boring. Neither of these men can move on with their lives until Ray's sin of killing a child is worked off. But how should that happen?

*Spoiler warning* Harry decides that the best thing to do is have Ken kill Ray. So Ken is ready to go through with it but then sees Ray about to kill himself, and Ken has a conscience attack, stopping him. Ken now believes that Ray deserves a second chance. So Ken saves Ray and readies himself to face the wrath of Harry. Self-sacrifice becomes the means for Ray's possibility of redemption. But this sin must be worked off somehow before anyone can leave Bruges/Purgatory. Ray's salvation comes not at his own hands (working off his own sin) but at the sacrifice of another. Ken becomes Jesus figure and represents how we are truly saved. The idea of Purgatory is interesting and seems to make sense at first glance, but when compared to scripture it fails to impart the truth. Ephesians 2:8-9 states: "For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith - and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God - not by works, so that no one can boast." In a way, Purgatory puts the responsibility on the sinner, not on the grace of God. We are completely and utterly unable to save ourselves in any way. Ray too was unable to save himself. He felt incredibly guilty for what he had done and decided that he deserved to die, and maybe he did. But he received a second chance, a new lease on life. He received redemption.

In Bruges does contain some strong religious undertones, yet at the same time it is a brutal dark comedy. It is quite funny at times, disturbing at others, and massively entertaining in that European kind of way. It is a journey of conscience, penance, and a life in between Heaven and Hell.