Unrelenting yet still insufficient

“We like to execute writers . . . It sends a message . . . I don’t know what message it sends. I don’t know where it sends a message—that’s not my department—but it sends a message.”       –Detective Tupolski

Redtwist Theatre presents:

The Pillowman

by Martin McDonagh
directed by Kimberly Senior
thru December 27th (ticket info)

Review by Paige Listerud

A local playwright once told me that productions of Samuel Beckett’s plays in Ireland are different from American ones–they are actually very funny. “What you have to remember about Waiting for Godot,” she told me, “is that it’s all pub talk.” Mad Irish humor shuffles side by side with bleak existentialism.

Somewhere in the middle of Martin McDonagh’s bleak, sadistic writing is the fun and play of talk–storytelling for the pure hell of it. Even if the story is supposed to shock, laughter comes somewhere before or after the gasp. Actors in Chekhov’s plays have to balance between making the audience laugh or cry. Here actors have to balance on the razor’s edge between laughter and horror. Suspended in the tension of the moment, audiences must be caught between the discomfort they feel over the violence before them and their own sadistic, humorous reaction to it.

As guest director for Redtwist Theatre’s production of The Pillowman, Kimberly Senior has successfully crafted an exhibition of unrelenting tension and suspense. Nothing disrupts the dense, claustrophobic atmosphere of the interrogation room that police officers Tupolski (Tom Hickey) and Ariel (Johnny Garcia) have dragged Katurian (Andrew Jessop) into to account for his life’s work as a writer. A few children have been murdered according to methods described in his macabre and unpublished stories. Protesting his innocence, the author gradually discovers just how he is implicated in those crimes.

A writer’s murder fiction becomes reality. How many times have we seen that device? But The Pillowman springboards from worn-out premise into reason-defying psychological depths. The audience is plunged into the black pool of connections between horror and childhood. According to psychologists, the very state of being shocked or horrified recreates in the victim a childlike state of frozen powerlessness, passivity, and surrealism. McDonagh’s work draws no distinction between that paralyzed, surreal consciousness and the world of childlike creativity and play. In The Pillowman, both are inextricably enmeshed. Horror gives birth to, or deeply informs, creativity and even when creativity seems to transform or redeem the impact of horror, it is, in fact, planting the seeds for more.

Redtwist’s production achieves the suspension of time required to create deep horror. In deep horror, there is no future–only an oppressive present that never improves. Nothing describes The Pillowman’s totalitarian state better than a nameless land, much like the land in many fairy tales, of uninterrupted horror, whose residents are kept in childlike submission. Even the agents of the state, like the good cop-bad cop team of Tupolski and Ariel, reveal their childlike natures through the stories they tell about themselves. Here the production shows its greatest strength. Hickey captures all the nuances of a cop who playfully revels in the arbitrary, meaningless nature of state sanctioned sadism, and then revises in front of Katurian a story about himself, in which he goes from heartless mastermind to ingenious savior. As unwavering bad cop, Garcia gives earnest pathos to a man who yearningly hopes his perpetual brutality will reap the love and adoration of children in old age.

The relationship between Katurian and his mentally challenged brother, Michal (Peter Oyloe), does not continue that wicked thread. We learn the authorities have dragged in Michal in order to force a confession. Even if Katurian suffers shock from police brutality and the revelation of real child murders, Jessop’s performance is still a little too somnambulant to realize any core of brotherly connection. For my money—and this is a matter of personal taste—I prefer a realist performance of a mentally handicapped person to a performance that simply alludes to it. At least readers can be aware of my bias. In any case, the scene between Katurian and Michal lacks the emotional range to raise the stakes.

Above all, the cast must go further to pull out all the dark humor that inhabits this play, dancing on that razor’s edge between laughs that undermine and laughs that reinforce its sadism. To this end, the side theaters that depict Katurian’s stories are quite impressive. Special attention should be given Marissa Meo’s depiction of the little girl who believes she is Jesus and willingly goes to violent limits to fulfill that belief. Her performance reflects the essence of play, something this production could use a little more of.

Rating: ★★★

Production Team

The PC has been out of pocket lately, working on lesson plans, taking a hubristic stab at a Dostoevsky-meets-McCarthy-meets-O’Connor novel, and just generally neglecting to review films. However, he has been watching movies and so would like offer a quick run-down of what he has seen (complete with ratings). He apologizes in advance for the lack of detail, but figures this is the best way to catch up:

1. Two Lovers (dir. James Gray, 2008): 4.5/5
2. We Own the Night (dir. James Gray, 2007): 3.5/5
3. The Yards (dir. James Gray, 2000): 4.5/5 (In general, Gray seems to borrow a lot from Scorsese, but that’s a good thing)
4. Henry Poole Is Here (dir. Mark Pellington, 2008): 3.5/5
5. Frozen River (dir. Courtney Hunt, 2008): 4.5/5 (Amazing performance here from Melissa Leo)
6. Eastern Promises (dir. David Cronenberg, 2007): 5/5 (Interesting, well-acted, and surprisingly underrated)
7. Adventureland (dir. Greg Mottola, 2009): 4/5
8. Before the Devil Knows You’re Dead (dir. Sidney Lumet, 2007): 4.5/5
9. In Bruges (dir. Martin McDonagh, 2008): 4/ 5
10. Mongol (dir. Sergei Bodrov, 2008): 4/ 5

In Bruges è un film del 2008 scritto e diretto da Martin McDonagh. Il film è interpretato da Colin Farrell e Brendan Gleeson, come sicari in clandestinità, con Ralph Fiennes, come loro capo gangster.

Leggi altre notizie su: | Martin McDonagh | Colin Farrell | Brendan Gleeson | Ralph Fiennes

I had a teacher that once said that drama is for feelings and comedy is for thought. At first I dismissed this idea because how can a movie like Little Nicky or Dickie Roberts: Child Star be thoughtful. But if you think about it, although they are horrible movies, they are indeed thoughtful. The former deals with living up to your father’s expectations, while the latter is about the effects stardom have on a child.

For this reason comedy is my favorite genre. Can you make a drama about a girl trying infiltrate a clique of popular girls to bring them down, and eventually becoming one of them? Yes you can, but it does not have the same effect as a comedy. So, I was quite excited about compiling a list of my favorite comedies of the decade, but it turned out to be harder than I thought. I’m sure I left out a few good ones, but I feel happy with the way it turned out.

Here’s my list for the 10 best comedies of the decade:

10. Shrek

Andrew Adamson, Vicky Jenson | 2001

I saw this without having seen any sort of promotional material for it (how I managed to do that, I don’t know), so imagine my surprise when the movie started. Shrek is a clever take on fairy tales that has jokes coming in very often, and they never get old. Will the movie age well? Probably not because of all the pop culture references, but I will always have fond memories of it.

9. I Love You, Man

John Hamburg | 2009

A great story about friendship sewn together by great chemistry between Paul Rudd and Jason Segel. Together, they make some poorly written lines and situations work. The rest of the cast also does a pretty good job of making this work, among them the always reliable JK Simmons, Andy Samberg, and Rashinda Jones.

8. Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy

Adam McKay | 2004

This movie came out at the peak of Will Ferrell’s popularity, that is when he used to do the things he still does, but with good scripts. The story is inpired and a perfect fit for Ferrell’s comedic abilities. The sight gag are great and the dialogue (which is rather good) is delivered perfectly by the cast. And I believe that this is still Ferrell’s best performance.

7. Ratatouille

Brad Bird | 2007

This movie is full of sophisticated and innocent humor. Prior to this it had been a while that I had not seen a non-Pixar animated movie that was hilarious and had clean humor. Yes, there is a poop joke, but that fits the personality of the character that is involved in the joke. Ratatouille made once again made the messy kitchen, the food to the face, slapstick feel fresh once again.

6. School of Rock

Richard Linklater | 2003

Jack Black gives his best and funniest performance here. Yes, the plot has been done before, but the way the story is told, and the earnest performances from the young cast, makes this stand above the rest of other movies with the same plot. Plus, the ending is pure magic.

5. Mean Girls

Mark Waters | 2004

Before “30 Rock” and Sarah Palin made Tina Fey a house-hold name, and before Linday Lohan started doing drugs and ruined her career, they made this movie. Lohan, along with Rachel McAdams, Amanda Seyfriend, and Lacy Chabert, make Fey’s creations come to life in a great way. The movie is full of your typical Fey dialogue, and that alone makes it stand above other comedies.

4. Hot Fuzz

Edgar Wright | 2007

The love that Edgar Wright and Simon Pegg have for bad action movies shows here. And only them could they make an intentionally hilarious action movie like this. The biggest laugh, however, don’t come from the spoofing, but rather from the small moments, like the old man being stabbed in the foot, or the crossword puzzle dialogue exchange. Just great stuff all around.

3. Happy-Go-Lucky

Mike Leigh | 2008

Some do not think that this is a comedy, and I can see why they think that however, since this made me cry because of all the laughter, it definitely qualifies as a comedy. No other movie made me laugh this hard this decade. This is all thanks to Mike Leigh’s great writing and direction, which fleshed out every single character, even those who are on-screen for only a few minutes. The movie also works as a comedy thanks to Sally Hawkins’ amazing performance.

2. Knocked Up

Judd Appatow | 2007

One would think that it would be hard to find comedy in an uncomfortable situation such as an unwanted pregnancy. However, Judd Appatow did, not in the actual situation, but in the fall out from it. Seeing these two people and their families trying either help them or trying to tear them apart is funny as well as seeing them trying to make things work when they are clearly not meant for each other. While his direction may not be the best, Appatow’s script makes the movie work, and one of the best comedies of the decade.

1. In Bruges

Martin McDonagh | 2008

Like Knocked Up, In Bruges finds comedy in a situation that would not necessarily require it. This time it is two killers hiding out after a job goes wrong. The comedy here is mixed in with the anguish that the main characters are feeling, and it works. On one hand we have Ray (Collin Farrell) feeling bad about what he did, and on the other we have him, and his partner Ken (Brendan Gleeson), getting into all sorts of trouble with their boss, a local drug dealer, Canadians, Americans, thieves and a midget. Even when things get awfully dark, the movie keeps it’s sense of humor, and that’s why it is the best comedy of the decade.

Honorable mentions: The 40-year-old Virgin, Role Models, Superbad, WALL-E, Amelie, Cheaper by the Dozen, Shrek 2, Blades of Glory, Juno, Little Miss Sunshine, The Spongebob Squarepants Movie, Forgetting Sarah Marshall, Shaun of the Dead, The Royal Tenenbaums, The Darjeeling Limited

Thanks for reading. Feel free to comment about this list.

Hey people, sorry I missed last week… if you care at all. But it was a busy week for me! My Halloween show, the original adaptation of “The Monkey’s Paw” went swimmingly with great feedback. Now here we are, in a brand new week, whatever that might mean. This week, I’m going on an audition for an Equity (Union) production of “A Lie of the Mind” by Sam Shepard. This is great. Not that I’m going to be cast in it, but it’s great that this show is going to be produced. Since the recession came into being, the theater scene has kind of been castrated. All you saw for a long time was musicals, musicals, nothing but musicals. Now, musicals are great, but they’re there because they are the big money makers, they are huge spectacles. But the strait plays (non musical plays) fell by the wayside for a while. These are the plays that really dig into issues and topics and characters, and where the whole theater community can really create something for the sake of what is going on on-stage, and not really worry about the spectacle of it, and if the songs are catchy enough.
Not only this, but playwrights I love (Sam Shepard, David Mamet, Martin McDonagh, Harold Pinter) have not been produced in a long time (I feel like), but now we’re starting to see them come back. Oleanna (Mamet) is on Broadway now (with Julia Stiles and Bill Pullman; break out that student ID and score yourself some student rush tickets!), A Lie of the Mind (Shepard) is being produced, and McDonagh is releasing a new play through the Atlantic Theater Company later in the season.
You might find me lame, but I find this quite exciting.

www.stephenmedvidick.com

Sometimes, Hollywood seems to think that a creative person who has shown themselves to be proficient in their own field will easily transfer their skills to the realm of directing. Most times, this doesn’t work. The most recent example that comes to my mind is Frank Miller’s directorial debut, The Spirit. Miller’s graphic novels are nothing short of genius. The adaptations of his novels into films have all been stunning and beautiful, to say the least. The Spirit is shit.

It is quite another story with In Bruges, the first film from playwright Martin McDonagh. I know absolutely nothing about this man, except to know that I will be first in line at whatever film he does next. It is easy to jump on the bandwagon of a director after only one film. It always makes me feel something akin to love for a director when their first attempt at directing comes across so well. However, this one is easily justified. On the surface, one can see why it isn’t too surprising that I fell so hard for this movie: Colin Farrell, Brendan Gleeson, Ralph Fiennes, Irishmen, hitmen, sex, humor, drugs, etc. But, this movie is much, much more than just what lies on the surface.

In Bruges, for all its elements, is actually just a tale of redemption, and a powerful one at that. The journey to get there helps make the movie so entertaining, but in the end, the redemption of lovable, but despicable, characters is what drives this movie. There is a wonderful “twist” at the end, which tends to cheapen a good movie in a lot of instances, but is almost completely necessary here. The first half of the movie is dedicated to making you connect with the amoral hitmen throughout their “vacation” in the town of Bruges, Belgium. It is effective. By the climax of the action, I found myself strongly rooting for all of the players involved: protagonists and antagonist. This is the type of well-rounded, complete story that we so very rarely see come out of Hollywood and justifies the amount of time people like myself waste watching shit movies in the attempt to find another instant classic like this one.

Coupled with the wonderful story is the ridiculously beautiful cinematography. One could argue that it doesn’t take much skill to film a town as beautiful as Bruges and have it turn out well. But, it’s much more than that. The shots are masterful in creating moods within the viewer. The daytime shots are excellent. They remove all the fanfare of the town. The ancient city is shown as an attraction, brightly lit and appealing, and a backdrop for ignorant foreign tourists.. The beauty of Bruges becomes an actual player in the comedy of the scenes. The nighttime shots, and the excellent interior shots darken the mood and pull the action right along. The shadows elevating Bruges to an ancient, mischievous being. Bruges almost becomes one of the conspirators against the protagonists.

The haunting score invariably approaches perfection. In the lighter scenes, as opposed to breaking the mood of the score prior to these parts, there is simply silence. As the moods of the film darken, the main theme of the score continues along and simply becomes another player in the film.

The script is also marvelous. The story is continually driving toward the shocker ending, but unlike others in this genre, you’ve no idea that this is what it’s building to. The climax, while being completely thrilling, still yanks at the heart strings. And, throughout it all, the morbid sadness of the story is never once enough to keep you from giggling.

Finally, the three actors are a powerhouse, and it’s impossible to pick a best performance from the three. Farrell’s bumbling young punk, later revealed to actually have a heart, wildly swings from horrendous to hopeless to heartwarming to humorous. Gleeson’s patriarch of a hitman is such a classic father role that it makes you forget that he is, in fact a violent killer, until it’s thrust upon you. Fiennes’ obsessive crime boss starts as the classic foul mouthed boss, and blindsides you with his human side. The movie fires right up with amazing performances, and scene after scene the momentum just carries and builds.

It is so rare to see such a masterful first stroke. From the writing to the cinematography, to the casting, to the location, to the performances, to the score, the film never comes short of wonderful. In Bruges, regardless of McDonagh’s next films, will forever be his masterpiece.

A review of In Bruges

The subjects of In Bruges are two Irish hit men (Colin Farrell and Brendan Gleeson, above) who are taking a vacation in a beautiful Belgian town after a particularly hot kill. They claim that they can leave “when it rains”, however, the reason for this is never explained. Farrell kills a priest — again, not explained — and somehow also kills a boy who came in for confession. Gleeson tells their boss (Ralph Fiennes) and then all the characters slowly start to die.

And I mean slowly. One guy gets shot in the stomach, bleeds everywhere as he climbs the steps of a 30m-high tower, jumps off that tower, cracks his head on the cement below, and still has enough energy to have a dramatic conversation with another guy before passing away.

Rather than an original story, In Bruges feels like a tacked-on sequel, with no apparent plot but which focuses solely on the consequences of the events of a non-existent original movie. We are forever waiting for the character-building to finish and the actual movie to begin. But no — after general bigotry towards dwarfs comes general bigotry towards fat people. We get it already: Farrell’s character is a bigot!

I know what Martin McDonagh has done here, so don’t write me off as yet another thoughtless blogger. He’s created a film in which a lot happens in one’s own imagination. This is awesome. But he’s got it the wrong way around! Movies where a lot happens in one’s own imagination can be great when it’s just a crazy romp where all this plot is thrown at you without any character development, and you find yourself inventing crazy personalities, motives, and ambitions behind the people. You guess what they’re going to do next, and you can contradict yourself later when you’re wrong. In In Bruges you are given all too much character development and are meant to invent the plot.

And when, instead of that prequel I talked about, which is the main driving force of the movie, we are presented with a simple, two-minute clip of total stupidity from the main character, we stop caring about the characters. I, for one, hoped that they did die in the end. The slower, the better.

This trailer sets up the movie In Bruges in a completely inaccurate way. Written, directed and produced by Martin McDonagh, the brilliant author of the horrific “The Pillowman“, this movie about two hitmen sent by their boss to Bruges, Belgium: a place  described as the equivalent of hell on earth by the movie’s procrastinator. Having been to Belgium (I was in Brussels) I can say that the country does have its own interesting charm, in looking at its rich history and trilingual influences. In a strange way, the movie only makes me wish I had the time to go into Bruges as well. As one of the characters say, everyone should get to visit Bruges before they die.

The story has you amidst the incredible character struggles of Ray (Colin Farrell) and Ken (Brendan Gleeson), both of whom have to overcome obstacles in their tenuous line of work. Two weeks in Bruges could be like a fairytale for some, which is how McDonagh structures the movie as we meet the beautiful Chloe, a “poof skinhead,” an drugged up dwarf actor, and a few more random characters that surely make you curious about the populous of the Belgian city. My original point was that the trailer makes the movie look like a buddy cop, Rush Hour wanna-be, when in reality, such comparisons are simply not apt. McDonagh loves to use dark comedy as a means for moving his story along and keeping the audience on the edge of their seat, something that most movie makers and writers seem afraid to do. Overall, the movie is an excellent look into the horror story fairytale lives of hitmen on sabatical, but also allows we snotty Americans to take a fictional glimpse into what exactly is happening in a place like Bruges.

Martin McDonagh es un director que promete mucho. No le bastó con ganar un premio Óscar por su cortometraje Six Shooter (2004), sino que además dirigió una de las mejores películas del año pasado. In Bruges (conocida en español como Escondidos en Brujas) es una cinta que se basa en un buen guión y grandes actuaciones para poder transmitir las emociones de sus personajes y lograr que estos generen una  conexión especial con los espectadores. Con un poco de humor negro, diálogos interesantes y una historia bien estructurada, la película logra destacar del promedio y se eleva junto a otros títulos del 2008 que nos hacen pensar que el cine no está tan mal como uno creía.

Los protagonistas son Ray (Colin Farrell) y Ken (Brendan Gleeson), dos asesinos a sueldo que deben huir a Bélgica -específicamente a la ciudad de Brujas- mientras esperan las instrucciones de su jefe, Harry (Ralph Fiennes). Las personalidades de ambos personajes no pueden ser más disímiles, y esto se ve reflejado en su percepción de la misma ciudad, la cual con su arquitectura gótica adquiere  protagonismo con cada minuto que pasa. Las calles y edificios históricos de Brujas sirven como escenario para las conversaciones que estos dos sicarios tienen acerca de la vida, la muerte y la redención.

McDonagh no sólo dirigió la película, sino que además escribió el guión de la misma. Influenciado por el trabajo de Quentin Tarantino -lo cual se puede notar en las conversaciones que tienen los personajes y el humor negro que rodea a la cinta-, el director británico logra narrar la historia de una manera muy fluida, aprovechando cada escena para ir modelándola. Los elementos que conforman la película se van relacionando unos con otros, uniendo a diversos personajes o momentos de la trama. Todo esto es acompañado por la genial música de Carter Burwell, quien logra resaltar los sentimientos de tristeza y soledad de los actores. Sus melodías en piano son perfectas como telón de fondo para las caminatas que estos tienen por la ciudad.

Si tuviera que elegir lo mejor de la película, serían los personajes. Es notable el trabajo de Colin Farrell y Brendan Gleeson interpretando a sus respectivos personajes. La credibilidad de sus actuaciones nos hacen ver a Ray y Ken no sólo como unos simples asesinos a sueldo, sino como verdaderas personas, con sus virtudes y defectos. En este sentido el guión ayuda bastante, ya que consiste en un gran estudio de sus personalidades, sin limitarse a mostrar aspectos superficiales o caricaturas. Las diferencias entre ambos personajes tienen mucho que ver con su experiencia, con las cosas que han vivido. Esto obviamente influye la manera en que ven la vida, y determina cómo se desenvuelven en el mundo.

El personaje de Colin Farrell, por ejemplo, tras experimentar un traumático accidente, ve todo de una manera pesimista y poco esperanzadora. A lo largo de la película se le ve cargando con una pesada piedra, la cual lo lleva incluso a pensar en el suicidio. A pesar de ser un asesino a sueldo, Ray queda muy afectado tras matar a un niño por accidente, y sólo piensa en la manera de pagar por su pecado. A su sentimiento de culpa se suma el miedo al posible castigo que recibirá por su acto. En una escena los personajes examinan El juicio final, un tríptico del pintor Hieronymus Bosch (“el Bosco”) donde se encuentra representada la segunda venida de Jesucristo a la tierra y el juicio que realiza a los seres humanos dependiendo de sus actos. La obra del pintor se transforma en un tema recurrente de la cinta, otorgándole además una brillante estética a sus escenas finales.

Ken, por su parte, es un hombre que se dedica a este tipo de trabajo como manera de agradecer a su jefe. Sin familia ni nada que perder, el personaje de Brendan Gleeson es un ser solitario que deambula por la vida tratando de aferrarse a algo que le de cierto sentido. Ken se ve a si mismo como alguien que no puede dar vuelta atrás, y que está atrapado en el camino que escogió. Cuando descubre el verdadero motivo por el cual fueron enviados a Brujas, decide hacer una última buena acción, tratando de salvar la vida de su compañero y dándole una segunda oportunidad. El tercer personaje más importante de la película es Harry, el jefe de los sicarios. Vengativo, y con una particular manera de ver la justicia, decide matar a Ray como castigo por lo que hizo. Harry considera que existe una especie de código moral que las personas deben seguir, el cual no admite excepciones -aunque esto tendrá sus efectos en la última escena de la película.

In Bruges no es buena sólo por sus elementos técnicos. A las actuaciones y guión se suman los temas que trata la historia y cómo estos se complementan. La película sirve como base para la carrera de Martin McDonagh, quien gracias a este trabajo se ha ganado la atención de aquellos que disfrutamos con el cine.

Brendan Gleeson (fondo) y Colin Farrell en una escena de In Bruges.

]]> http://fascinatedfilmfanatic.wordpress.com/2009/09/24/directors-to-watch-out-for-martin-mcdonagh/ Thu, 24 Sep 2009 04:30:04 +0000 chris1193 http://fascinatedfilmfanatic.wordpress.com/2009/09/24/directors-to-watch-out-for-martin-mcdonagh/

Irish playwright Martin McDonagh is primarily known for his theatrical endeavors, however, his one cinematic effort, “In Bruges”, has enough skill, black humor, and heart in it that I eagerly await his next effort.

“In Bruges” concerns the exploits of two hit men when they are forced to relocate to a quaint Flemish town in lieu of a job gone wrong. What could be a film that resembles many of the Tarantino knock-offs of the late 90s is instead a surprisingly bleak, thoughtful existentialist journey that is full of irreverent humor and beautifully drawn characters. The writing is, as you can expect from McDonagh, excellent, with a great sense of economy in storytelling and a series of wonderful dialogue exchanges. Numerous little throwaway moments throughout the film, from two people arguing over change to an exchange involving “dum-dums”, all come into play thrillingly in the films Grand Guignol finale.

However, as good of a writer as McDonagh is, it would be disingenuous to not mention how skillfully he directs the film too. He has a natural sense of timing and composition, and he does a great job of turning the film’s setting of Bruges into it’s own character. The film also shows how cinematically literate McDonagh is, such as a terrific homage to the famous tracking shot from “Touch of Evil”, or numerous references to “Don’t Look Now” director Nicholas Roeg.

So yeah I really, really love “In Bruges”. However, Martin McDonagh has proved he has a natural cinematic deftness with more than his debut film. Take for instance, his Oscar-winning short film “Six Shooter”, which similarly to “In Bruges” balances existentialist themes with violence and black humor. Both “Six Shooter” and “Bruges” feature soulful performances from Irish character actor Brendan Gleeson. In fact, McDonagh consistently gets great work from his actors. In “In Bruges”, Ralph Fiennes reveals within him a natural gift for comedy as the employer of the hit man who enjoys expressing himself with profanity. And Colin Farrell, who’s career seemed to be sputtering out, gives the best work I’ve seen of him in the film.

McDonagh has said that he will return to theater for now, and it will be sometime before he makes another film, however I shall be waiting for his next project eagerly. He has shown that he is as adept behind the camera as he is with a writing instrument and a blank page, and I sincerely await his next cinematic effort.

*****

Perhaps better known in film circles for his astonishing feature debut, 2008’s comedy-thriller In Bruges, those familiar with Irish playwrite Martin McDonagh’s extensive theatre work are well aware that he’s no one-trick pony.

Originally performed in 1996, The Beauty Queen of Leenane opens in the kitchen of Mag (Carole Dance), a housebound old woman whose daily routine consists of consuming bowls of Complan, drinking tea and watching Australian soaps on TV.

Meg is looked after by daughter Maureen (Alice Selwyn) whose life has taken a distinctly unfortunate turn as she ensures her mother has everything she needs while looking after their rural farm.

When local lad Pato (Paul Boyle) returns to the village to see off some friends, he and Maureen meet, have a one night stand and set in motion a chain of events which will see mother and daughter finally face their feelings once and for all.

Starting out like a darker version of Steptoe and Son (though take away the laughter track and even Steptoe is a tragedy) with mother trapping daughter in a kind of purgatory with no easy escape route, Beauty Queen soon adds layers to the story that makes it more than a comedy.

Setting up his characters and their foibles, McDonagh then starts to turn what we know on its head as ancillary characters are introduced to the mix and new revelations are unveiled.

The appearance of Pato is a welcome one, his kind nature at odds with the bizarre family life he’s wandered into after a night of passion. There’s also a superb comic turn from Alan DeVally as dim-witted Ray, his discussion of Kimberley biscuits, Sons & Daughters and pokers grounding the story in some kind of reality.

With audience loyalties changing from scene to scene and the plot refusing to stop twisting until the final moments, this is a perfectly formed production which, unlike Maureen’s daily tasks, never becomes a chore.

Jonathan Melville

The Beauty Queen of Leenane tours until 28 November – visit the London Classic Theatre website for dates.

Writers’ Theatre has appointed Stuart Carden associate artistic director.

“I’m so excited to be in collaboration with Stuart,” said Michael Halberstam, executive director the Writers’. “He has a rich background in literary development, a keen and ambitious scope of work as a director and a passion for the administrative challenges that come with supporting artistic direction. In a very short time I believe we will see Stuart’s strength of perspective and influence find its way onto the stages of Writers’ Theatre.”

Says Carden:

“I’m thrilled to be back home in the thriving Chicago theatre community as Writers’ Theatre’s new associate artistic director. Michael Halberstam and Kathryn Lipuma have created something extraordinary in Glencoe and I’m honored to join the passionate and vibrant group of artists and theater-makers that call Writers’ home. Through the course of my career my theatrical raison d’être has been helping bring new and diverse voices to the stage and I’m looking forward to bringing that passion for new work to Writers’ exciting Literary Development Initiative.”

Stuart Carden joins Writers’ Theatre as associate artistic director after two seasons at City Theatre Company in Pittsburgh where he was associate artistic director. As a new play specialist, Stuart has helped to develop over thirty plays, twelve of which he directed in their world premiere productions. Notable regional, U.S., and world premieres include works by Martin Crimp, David Henry Hwang, Tristine Skyler, Jeffrey Hatcher, Shishir Kurup, Richard Dresser and Yussef El Guindi. Last season his production of Martin McDonagh’s The Lieutenant of Inishmore at The Repertory Theatre of St. Louis garnered five Kevin Kline nominations including “Outstanding Production” and “Outstanding Director.”

In Chicago he directed the world premiere production of Shishir Kurup’s The Merchant on Venice at Silk Road Theatre Project, which was named one of the top ten plays of 2007 by the Chicago Tribune, Chicago Sun-Times and Time Out Chicago. Other recent new play work includes directing Mary’s Wedding, The Pillowman, Stones in his Pockets, A Picasso, The Moonlight Room, 10 Acrobats in an Amazing Leap of Faith, Big Love and Back of the Throat. Classical and classically inspired directing projects include The False Servant, Spring Awakening, Life is a Dream, The Crucible, The Game of Love and Chance, Miss Julie, A Streetcar Named Desire and his own adaptation of Nikolai Gogol’s Diary of a Madman.

Stuart has taught acting, directing and movement at Carnegie Mellon University, The Hartt School, Loyola University, Beloit College and Act One Studios. He holds an M.F.A. in directing from Carnegie Mellon University and is a member of the Stage Directors and Choreographers Society. In the 2009/10 season Stuart is slated to direct David Harrower’s Blackbird at City Theatre Company and a play very familiar to Writers’ Theatre audiences, Crime and Punishment adapted by Curt Columbus and Marilyn Campbell, at The Repertory Theatre of St. Louis.

For more info about the Writers’ Theatre, please visit www.writerstheatre

h/t BroadwayWorld.com

This end-of-year list was initially conceived back in January of 2009 as a rough guide to my favourites from the previous year. It has since been revised to include most of the titles I didn’t manage to get to until later on, so while it seems rather late in coming for those who’ve been following the blog, I assure you it’s worth it! While many opinions on the filmic crop of 2008 have already been divulged on these pages, I still find it rather exciting to lay them all out and come up with some kind of order. Some of you will notice that I won’t yet be mentioning the five (or so) honourable mentions; that info will be saved until the latter part of the list, just so as to keep things interesting. I hope you enjoy reading through it as much as I enjoyed creating it, and be sure to look out not only for the second part of this list but also the 2009 edition which should be posted around January/February of next year.

20. Man on Wire | James Marsh

The first thing we are greeted with when embarking on James Marsh’s Oscar-nominated documentary Man on Wire is the enthusiasm of its subject, French wire-walker Philippe Petit. His broken English, wild hand gestures and frequently-disappearing eyebrows are somewhat infectious, and it is this wonderful personality that raises Man on Wire from a documentary about a single passion to… [MORE]

19. The Chaser | Na Hong-jin

Based on a true story, the recent Korean box office smash Chugyeogja or The Chaser has caused quite a stir since debuting at the Berlin film festival back in February of last year. It took a while but the film finally made its European release in September and has already been picked up by Warner Bros. for a 2010 remake that will involve Leonardo DiCaprio and The Departed writer William Monahan… [MORE]

18. Waltz with Bashir | Ari Folman

As with James Marsh’s Man on Wire, Ari Folman’s Waltz with Bashir is an interesting and unique take on the documentary genre that positively shook critics’ circles upon release, scooping a truckload of awards and an Oscar nomination to boot. Man on Wire plays with the  genre to create something that could only be described as a heist-documentary film, whereas Waltz with Bashir refines it through… [MORE]

17. Lake Tahoe | Fernando Eimbcke

A father dies, a mother mourns. A son wanders the streets. This is not Lake Tahoe, but the Yucatán, Mexico – specifically a tranquil little peninsula town defined by its expansive pale blue horizons, crumbling architecture, weed-infested streets and curious, somewhat over-friendly locals. It is an unfortunate telegraph post just outside this small town of Chicxulub that our young protagonist, Juan, the Son… [MORE]

16. Snow Angels | David Gordon Green

David Gordon Green’s overlooked and under-celebrated fourth full-length feature Snow Angels is a film about adults lost – lost in love upon a landscape buried under never-ceasing snowfall. It is a tale as bleak as this pure white landscape; purity that violently contradicts the lives of our two central characters Annie and Glenn. Divorcees with a child in tow, their relationship has run aground upon rocky… [MORE]

15. My Winnipeg | Guy Maddin

“Winnipeg. Winnipeg, Winnipeg. Snowy, sleepwalking Winnipeg…” So begins Guy Maddin’s ninth feature film and quaint tribute to his home town of Winnipeg, Manitoba. My Winnipeg is by far the most personal of Maddin’s work to date, lacking the abstract blurriness of Brand Upon the Brain but excelling thanks to a certain breed of self-analysis that the director has long-since perfected. Indeed if… [MORE]

14. In Bruges | Martin McDonagh

It is a rare occurrence when a modern playwright turns his hand to film directing, and rarer still when said candidate has not yet escaped his thirties. British-born Martin McDonagh is rather an emphatic exception to this notion it would seem. After scripting numerous acclaimed theatrical and radio plays (and being nominated for a Tony Award on four separate occasions), the playwright shifted his gaze to film… [MORE]

13. The Fall | Tarsem Singh

Tarsem Singh’s The Fall is one of those filmic curiosities that come along every so often and at the same time not often enough. An elaborate project that has been years in the making, it has struggled to find investment and, subsequently, an audience to which it could be marketed to, before becoming stuck in a seemingly never-ending run of festival screenings. Since its conception almost half a… [MORE]

12. WALL·E | Andrew Stanton

In this day and age where theatrical releases are commonly referred to as ‘international events’, it baffles me that the staggered release is still so widely implemented. Pixar, just like their parent company Disney have always made their money in the hot summer months. A time when kids are experiencing a waning need to be entertained, and their parents are looking for the perfect way to fulfil… [MORE]

11. Let the Right One In | Tomas Alfredson

It’s a shame that the expression ‘knocked for six’ is largely unknown outside England and Australia, for it describes rather well the feet-swept feeling one may experience with a well-made thriller every so often. “Stunned, shocked, astounded or overwhelmed” are some of the synonyms offered for this cricket-oriented idiom, which is exactly how I felt after sitting through the Swedish vampire flick… [MORE]

The second part of this list can be found here >>>

In Bruges | Martin McDonagh, 2008

It is a rare occurrence when a modern playwright turns his hand to film directing, and rarer still when said candidate has not yet escaped his thirties. British-born Martin McDonagh is rather an emphatic exception to this notion it would seem. After scripting numerous acclaimed theatrical and radio plays (and being nominated for a Tony Award on four separate occasions), the playwright shifted his gaze to film production and a 2006 short film Six Shooter for which he won an Academy Award. Cue In Bruges, a first full-length feature and a film that continues the man’s obsession over his Irish heritage. While being born and raised in London, McDonagh has Irish blood in his veins and this fact reveals itself often within his work; a fact that has sparked some criticism in the past. In Bruges involves two of Ireland’s brighter acting talents in Colin Farrell and Brendan Gleeson as hired guns who are instructed to hide out among the towering medieval churches and majestic canal bridges of Bruges to await their next job. This inspired choice of casting showcases a wonderfully comedic chemistry between the duo, and allows the film a foundation on which to build its sharp script.

In Bruges considers some very real subjects, and while not entirely a morality play does attempt to portray the conscience of a killer – albeit with laughs. As risky as this concept sounds McDonagh actually succeeds in pulling it off  – to a degree. None of the comedy to be found in the film feels force and as such we never feel this is used as a substitute or becomes a distraction – in fact, many of the film’s more serious moments are taken advantage of in quite hilarious fashion. The comedy is dark, hateful but extremely cheery and it is this aspect that sets In Bruges apart. I would liken it to another international comedy success from the same country: Shaun of the Dead. Both movies touch on some serious issues but ensure that a well-written punchline is never far away – the main difference here being that both Farrell and Gleeson are experienced dramatic actors so exhibit the range to deal with each end of the ‘dramedy’ spectrum. In Bruges is the kind of effort that couldn’t be anything other than a debut – it is fresh and fancy-free with wit and style to spare, offering a stunning backdrop and haunting score upon which the two leads base their wonderfully infectious dual performance.

Our Rating:

The fucking best scene from the fucking movie! Fuck!

Na Mira do Chefe é um daqueles mistérios que te faz inclinar um pouco para frente enquanto assiste ao filme, tentando mergulhar melhor em seu universo e em suas ideias. À primeira vista, um susto diante da narrativa pouco convencional, das piadas de humor negro e da história que não tem objetivo algum. Porque essa é a impressão que naturalmente surge para quem está acostumado com o cinemão norte-americano, em que um filme só chama atenção se muita coisa acontecer entre um começo e um fim bem discriminados. Narrativas que fogem ao formatos são taxadas de “sem pé nem cabeça”.

Ray (Colin Farrell) e Ken (Brendan Gleeson) são dois matadores enviados a pequena e singela Bruges, na Bélgica, por seu chefe, Harry (Ralph Fiennes). Enquanto Ken aproveita as belezas da cidade, Ray não consegue aturar a atmosfera local e se envolve em algumas confusões com um anão e um caso amoroso com uma bela dama de sotaque francês. Mas logo Ray vai se envolver em algo bem maior, graças a um grande erro que atormenta sua vida.

Sob um olhar mais atento, o filme é uma grande opção. Histórias como a que vemos dependem muito dos atores, que ocupam lugar central em um roteiro que não tem explosões, perseguições ou sequências frenéticas. Na Mira do Chefe acerta neste quesito. Collin Farrell, que ganhou o Globo de Ouro ano passado por seu papel, nos entrega um personagem esférico que viaja do cômico ao desespero com maestria. Brendan Gleeson move barreiras com seus olhares cortantes, seus sentimentos paternais em relação ao parceiro e seus duelos sintáticos com o Chefe, Ralph Fiennes, que também está ótimo, num papel que o permite abandonar a fleuma britânica característica.

O roteiro realmente merece todos os prêmios que ganhou e a que foi indicado, mas paradoxalmente é o grande calcanhar de aquiles do longa. Martin McDonagh, diretor e roteirista, conduz magistralmente a história excêntrica, que prende a atenção e nos apresenta a personagens complexos, situações problemas que oscilam do hilário ao dramático, tudo pontuado por uma trilha sonora vibrante e um trabalho técnico muito competente. No fim das contas, algumas cenas são de arrepiar os pelos. No entanto, quando vista na totalidade, reitero na totalidade, a história não se parece com a vida real, é idealista demais, o que deixa a impressão que McDonagh não conhece a vida de perto, mas é apenas um cara talentoso na hora de escrever roteiros.

Um bom filme, Na Mira do Chefe é uma ótima pedida para quem gosta de comédias fora do pastelão e histórias diferentes do padrão a que estamos acostumados. Com um pouco de esforço, o “sem pé nem cabeça” pode se tornar um momento de diversão e algumas reflexões. Entretanto, o filme não consegue ir a fundo na psiquê humana ou nas situações dramáticas da vida cotidiana, parecendo se passar em algum mundo destacado do nosso. A singeleza e a idealização Bruges, a típica cidade-sonho europeia, se reflete em Na Mira do Chefe. Ainda assim, recomendado!

2008: In Bruges di Martin McDonagh

“Un film ben scritto e diretto… un noir bechettiano” (Il Corriere della Sera), “Il regista mostra straordinaria padronanza” (La Stampa), “Un thriller dal sapore gotico” (Il Tempo), “Intrigante e intenso film” (Ciak).

Entusiasmo della critica ma flop ai botteghini per questo primo lungometraggio del regista teatrale inglese Martin McDonagh (Oscar 2006 per il miglior corto), film di difficile interpretazione per il suo continuo oscillare tra toni e stili diversi, dal demenziale al dark, dalla giocosità al cinismo. Si ha quasi l’impressione che McDonagh abbia girato due lavori con la stessa trama (il primo caricaturale ironico paradossale, il secondo altamente drammatico) e che poi in fase di montaggio abbia preso un po’ dell’uno e un po’ dell’altro senza riuscire a creare un’opera unitaria e omogenea (come invece suggerirebbe la locandina italiana che ritrae Colin Farrell con una pistola in una mano e un cono gelato in un’altra).

Racconto non plausibile imperniato su due improbabili killer, situazioni immotivate, ritmo lento, personaggi assurdi e irreali caratterizzano In Bruges, miscellanea di situazioni tragiche che stridono con gag e battute che si vorrebbero caustiche e dissacranti (ma che risultano spesso fastidiose e di cattivo gusto).
Il tentativo ambizioso di creare un’opera tragicomica (umoristica e cupa, divertente e triste al contempo) con toni esistenzialisti e surreali appare del tutto fallito e ha il solo effetto di spiazzare lo spettatore, confonderlo e irritarlo. Aggrava il tutto l’interpretazione sopra le righe di Colin Farrell, senz’altro uno dei migliori attori oggi in circolazione, ma che qui si esibisce in un tale campionario di smorfie da rendere il suo personaggio un vero e proprio clown (ruolo che del resto avrebbe richiesto un interprete più giovane). Perfetti risultano invece Brendan Gleeson e Ralph Fiennes.
Splendide e struggenti, naturalmente, le immagini che ritraggono Bruges.

Inspiegabilmente (a mio parere) il film ha ottenuto un Golden Globe e una nomination agli Oscar.

scheda

Poster from Stage II's production of "The Pillowman"

The art of storytelling, despite the influence of contemporary culture and social morality, is sometimes made solely for the purpose of telling a story: simply put, no strings attached.  In the play The Pillowman, author Martin McDonagh and the main character Katurian, both agree, “The only duty of a storyteller is to tell a story.”  While Katurian explicitly quotes this view, the play itself both reinforces and supports the claim.  McDonagh intentionally leaves out a clear message, uses entertaining elements of storytelling, and distinguishes a relationship between a real and fictional world.

Lack of Lessons

The Pillowman emphasizes the lack of lessons, values, and agendas—i.e., not preaching moral values and pushing political beliefs—that characterize the very essence of true, unbiased storytelling.  McDonagh intentionally leaves out a meaningful message for the audience by exploiting the use of inverted morality and the grotesque thoughts that flow through one’s mind while engaging in his sadistic wordplay.

One might argue that the cops in the play are actually a symbol for some sort of political agenda—especially since The Pillowman is set in a Totalitarian governed state.  Yet, the characters are merely there to allow for the unconventional and brutal behavior McDonagh illustrates.  His belief of a storyteller’s duty is portrayed through his main character Katurian, a short story writer who declares, “That’s what I do, I tell stories.  No axe to grind, no anything to grind.  No social anything whatsoever.”

Many of Katurian’s stories are depictions of monstrous crimes happening to children.  Even though interrogator Detective Tupolski implies the message of Katurian’s stories are an allegory of the recent killings, Katurian reinforces his storytelling motto by repeatedly denying a symbolic meaning for the children victims portrayed in his stories.  Although it can be argued Katurian’s stories did ultimately aid in the murder of children, his mentally challenged brother Michal—a person incapable of knowing right from wrong, acted them out.  This bespeaks the fact that the influence of Katurian’s stories does not affect the actions of others, and his stories are simply stories.  Thus, Tupolski’s theory is incorrect.

Entertaining Elements of Storytelling

Continuing the theme of McDonagh’s and Katurian’s view of storytelling lays the entertaining elements of the play that break free from generalized social morality.  Right off the bat, McDonagh emphasizes his use of vulgar language and four-letter-words, combining them with a silly nature that undoubtedly makes one laugh.  For example, in The Pilowman, Tupolski discovers Katurian’s full name:

Your name is Katurian Katurian Katurian?
“Like I said, my parents are funny people,” he replied.
“Mmm. For ‘funny’ I guess read ‘stupid fucking idiots.’”

The dynamic repartee between Detective Tupolski and his partner Ariel reflects the odd combination of crudeness with an uncontrollable desire to laugh.  Later in the play, while pointing towards Ariel, Tupolski says to Katurian, “Oh, I almost forgot to mention…I’m the good cop, he’s the bad cop.”  When asked to stand up and read “The Tale of the Town on the River”, Katurian admits he feels as if he were in school, to which Tupolski replies, “…Except at school they didn’t execute you at the end.  Unless you went to a really fucking tough school.”

The previous example helps demonstrate the entertaining elements that can be constructed into hilarious nonsense combined with the witty banter McDonagh is so good at illustrating.  During the interrogation, a box is placed on the table.  Tupolski screams “Open the fucking box!”  The visual representation of Katurian yelling back, “I’ll open the fucking box!”,  is enough to almost make one laugh uncontrollably—mostly because Katurian is played by Billy Crudup and watching his character traits in other films, such as Dedication, blow up and exaggerate the intensity of the outrageous yet hilarious portrayal of a pissed off Katurian.  The dialogue between Michal and Katurian is as varied and complex as it is hilarious.  For example, Michal says, “My arse is really itchy…have we got any of that powder left?”  “No. You used it all.  Like it was going out of style.”

Relationship Between a Real and Fictional World

Along with entertainment, McDonagh shows his belief of the duty of a storyteller using examples of complex relationships between real and fictional worlds.  After reading Katurian’s short story entitled “The Little Apple Men,” Tupolski admits, “It’s a bit of a twist.  You think it’s a dream sequence,” referring to the fact that the short story continues to go on even after it seems as if the story has ended, distorting the entire string of reality that has been invested in a certain image.  This is tied in with the element of the story that takes a little bit of fantasy and mixes it in with fiction to create a scene—or various sequences of scenes—that capture the very essence of the twisted reality that makes up the body of the play.

For example, Ariel has a past involving his childhood that Tupolski continues to bring up, especially after Katurian is able to notice his reactions to certain questions and announces this aloud.  “Ariel had a problem childhood, see, and he tends to take it out on all the retards we get in custody.  It’s bad, really, if you think about it.”  In the real world, murders are taking place.  In the fantasy world of Katurian’s short stories, murders are taking place.  “Are you trying to say I shouldn’t write stories with child-killings in them because in the real world there are child-killings?” asks Katurian.

One of the main portrayals of this parallel between reality and fantasy is one of Katurian’s short stories, “The Writer and the Writer’s Brother.”  It is based off Katurian’s and Michal’s childhood growing up in a dysfunctional and traumatizing environment.  After the younger brother Michal is born, he is kept in a room next to Katurian’s.  While living in that room until the age of 14, Michal is tortured by his parents and beaten raw.  After Katurian started to hear violent crimes for help and screams coming from the other room, he began to write better and more creative stories.  Eventually, Katurian looks in the other room to find out what is going on.  The parents claimed they were just pretending to hurt someone when in fact Michal was hidden under the mattress.  In “The Writer and the Writer’s Brother” the story comes to an end with Michal being killed, when in real life, Katurian had rescued his brother and suffocated his parents to death with a pillow.  When Katurian and Michal are about to be executed, Michal says, “When I was in here listening to you screaming next door, I thought this musta been kinda like how it was for you all those years.  Well, let me tell ya, it’s easier from this side.”

The Duty of a True Storyteller

Despite the outcome of the play—a twisted end to a twisted story—it actually shows that by using techniques of storytelling to create an honest and non-biased story, the job of the storyteller is to simply tell the story—nothing else.  Although the art of storytelling is sometimes reflected by contemporary cultural and social morality, McDonagh proves this is not always the case.  To reinforce his view, Katurian even continues to tell his stories to Michal even when they are about to be executed, and asks Tupolski if he will not burn his stories but keep them alive so they do not die along with him.

The true duty of a storyteller, as shown through McDonagh’s play, retains this ideal by intentionally leaving out a clear message, using entertaining elements of storytelling, and with his written use of relationships between the real and fictional world.  Reflecting McDonagh’s true opinion of the duty of the storyteller, the play speaks for itself when Katurian says, “I’m not trying to tell you anything.  It’s supposed to be just a puzzle without a solution.”

Starring in this coarse fable are two Irish Gents. Colin Farrell from The Recruit, Phone Booth and Alexander and Brendan Gleeson who appears as Alastor “Mad-Eye” Moody in our famous school-boy, wizard tales and a truly, exquisite and masterful performance as Martin Cahill in the film, The General.

We see two hitmen hiding in Bruges (that’s in Belgium) on a “Job” doing their best to shut themselves away in a Hotel for a few days whilst waiting for a call from the boss, Harry Waters (Ralph Fiennes) We see our Irish Tourist/Hitmen sightseeing in the day, albeit one of them very halfheartedly and doing their best to enjoy the evenings whilst they are in the fairytale landscape of the medieval City of Bruges.

Farrell’s character, Ray Cranham is one of the lads who likes to go out drinking, doing some occasional coke when it becomes available and sightseeing in his own way. After strolling the streets at night to see what Bruges would be like all lit up they stumble across a small film crew where Clémence Poésy’s character Chloe catches his eye and get’s a certain look enticing him to make a leap over the cordoned fence to make introductions. As romance grips the couple, when they plan to meet, Ray’s partner Ken Blakely (Gleeson) the more mature, composed and homosexual gentleman, receives a call from the boss after a bodged hit involved an innocent boy getting killed. Being as Ray pulled the trigger and caused the extremely unfortunate accident, Ken must make amends to Harry by taking Ray out.

The story’s sights weaves around the occasional nook and cranny of Bruges itself as we see some of the wonderous sights of what truly is a beautiful City. Written and directed by Martin McDonagh who has previously has only done Six Shooter which also starred Gleeson in 2004, is a story simply of principle. What a well written and smart one it is too.

Farrell and Gleeson act as if they had been working together for years as the bickering continues throughout the film. Both of which have played strong, emotional parts before making this seem like a bizarre, Off-The-Wall documentary.

Comedy is rife like the Karate Chop scene where Farrell comes down on a Dwarf in his Hotel room after scoring some Class A’s and inviting two prostitutes up to his bedroom. Also amusing the scene where Harry meets up with the “Blind Skinhead Gay Boy” when collecting his gun.

Emotional moments of course are encountered not alone after the innocent boy unfortunately dies but when Farrell is attempting to commit suicide, show the torments with such conviction the audience surely can not help to feel empathy. The script is funny, the plot is smart and having a film with an ending such as this one, make you know you have just watched a really good film.

You’ve got to stick to your principles.

And please comment if you have found this useful. Nice one!

Sai mainitud Six Shooterit kommenteerides, et põhjuseks seda lühifilmi kõigepealt vaadata oli In Bruges lavastaja nägemusse sisseelamine. Asjal oli kindlasti jumet, kuna pikk film ületas kohati talle asetatud ootusi. Rahule võis jääda filmiga juba ainuüksi visuaalse külje pealt, kuna kanalitega kaunistatud Brugget pole mul kunagi olnud plaanis külastada. Sealsest hästi säilinud keskaegsest vanalinnast on filmi osavalt sisse kodeeritud terve turismituur.  Mistõttu nüüd pole enam vahet, kas minna või mitte minna. Colin Farreli poolt mängitava Ray algsest suhtumisest, et Brugge on pahn ja tahaks kuhugi mujale, saab kavalalt filmi käigus uus, elada tahtmise võrdkuju, kelle jaoks Brugge on sama sobiv linn kui misiganes teine. Seda kõike kõrvale jättes on filmi kandev osa hoopis kahe palgamõrvari sattumine ooteseisundisse linnas, mis Iiri päritolu meestel verbaalse kõhulahtisuse tekitab. Mõnus loomulikult kõlav dialoog, mis näo pidevalt muigele ajab ja kuni lõpuni vastu peab, kui duole Colin Farrell ja Brendan Gleeson lisandub veel Ralph Fiennes, kes varemalt vaid telefoni teel esines. Ausalt öeldes pean tunnistama, et leidnud nende näitlemises miskit köhima panevat ja eriti rahule jäin Farrelliga, põhjuseks suutmatus näha ette teda sellisel tasemel pingutamas ja ka õnnestumas. Võibolla kui tahaks veidi norida, siis olid mõned kohad, kus asjade käik oli liiga lihtsalt etteennustatav, kuid see ei seganud. Selliste filmide juures on veel üks korralik libastumiskoht, milleks on lõpulahendus. Tõsiselt etteheidetavat libastumist polnud ja isegi koht, kus igaüks võib mõelda, mida tahab, suudeti sisse jätta. Just vahetult enne tiitreid. Mispidi see film IMDB TOP250 hulka peaks kuuluma, mulle samas arusaadav ei ole. Aga miks peakski, see tabel on nagunii suuresti veider oma järjekorra poolest, kuid ta on avatud rahvaedetabel ja sellest johtuvalt on isegi huvitav, et just vanu klassikuid niipalju sinna korraga ära mahub. Võibolla tõesti on ka In Bruges tulevane klassika. Ma siiski ootaks paarkümmend aastat enne, kui jah ütleks.

IMDB

Filmi vaatama inspireeris veidi ootamatu kamraad Trashi post filmist In Bruges, sest kinno vaatama ma seda filmi omal ajal ei tõtanud. Samas nüüd tundus see olevat üks filmidest, mis peaks kannatama heas mõttes kriitikat. Selgus aga, et peale selle pika filmi pole lavastaja teinud muud, kui ühe pooletunnise lühifilmi, mis paistis ka kobe õhtusöögi kõrvale ära vaadata. Ei tulnud pettuda kuidagi, sest ka peaosas mänginud Brendan Gleeson on varasematest filmidest sümpaatne tuttav. Film ise küll oli liiga lühike, et hakata sisule viiteid tegema, rikuks igasuguse vaatamise mõtte ära tõenäoliselt. Hullumeelse loo jutustamine sujus lavastajal hästi, aga et üldiselt oli liiga palju etteennustatavat, siis päris kümnesse see film ei läinud. Ometi andis paraja tormihoiatuse, et veel veidi tööd ja McDonagh saab korraliku pika filmi tehtud küll ning pole võimatu, et see isegi on õnnestunud projekt. Kuigi seda lühifilmi vaadates oli kohati räpast nalja nabani, ei olnud see kogemus paraku sellisest vallast, et oleksin miskit pidi üllatunud ja kiidaksin sellest johtuvalt materjali taevani. Aga kui tahate söögi kõrvale miskit lõbusat ja veidi verist vaadata, siis viis pluss valik. Annab tõesti lootust, et In Bruges on üle keskmine film ja ei osutu niisama ajaraiskamiseks nagu paljude filmide puhul täna ikka ja jälle tunnistada tuleb.

IMDB

“We’re living in a period where cinema is a product; movies are becoming more and more commercialized. Short films are one of the last real places for artistic freedom—they’re important to celebrate just for that.”—Juan Solanas

Six Shooter is one of the short films from the collection  Cinema16: European Short Films, a DVD of quality short films. The film won an Oscar in the year 2006 under Live Action Short Film category. I think the film is brilliant. This short is also available free on you tube. Since my review after the videos below is more like an analysis of the film rather than a proper review, I suggest that you first watch the film below before you read my review. The film is little over 25 minutes, so watch it only if you can spare that much time or perhaps you can also watch the film in intervals.

Martin McDonagh was already a successful playwright in London before he wrote and directed this short film. The themes and ideas he explored here are said to be his favorite and oft-visited ones, both in his plays and in his future films after this short. I think the film is extremely dark with just the right kind of humor injected, especially in the final scene. Because without that weird humor underlying this bleak story, the movie would have been a perfect recipe for disaster. The central theme here is ofcourse death and that how different characters deal with the recent death of a loved one. And even in that grief, there is a strange bond among different characters in the film. Donelly’s (played by seasoned actor, Brendon Gleeson) wife has just died, the morose couple in the train have just lost their baby and the extra talkative & seemingly deranged teenager (played by Ruaidhri Conroy) will soon have a story to tell about his mother’s murder. Each character in the film deals with death in a different way; ranging from silent suffering to psychotic violent reaction. It seemed as if everyone on that ill-fated train is on the edge. I mean even the food pantry guy was unusually cold and snippy; perhaps he also lost somebody dear.

I believe that the biggest strength of the film was that how director managed to make such an obnoxious character, the young psycho, sympathetic in the end. Until that scene in the end when he is shot at, you despise him; he is so offensive that you don’t ever want to meet such a character in your life. But after that final chat between him and Donelly, you suddenly realize that this guy was weird but perhaps not really evil. When you first see the film, you almost blame the kid for driving the distressed woman to suicide. But then later you realize that sooner or later the woman was perhaps going to take such a step anyways; she was really miserable and boy’s sickly humor had nothing to do with her suicide. I thought that was a kind of veiled statement by the director that how in life people tend to blame others for their problems, but many a times those external people are just an excuse for failing to deal with one’s own inner demons. Because, if you think about it, the kid infact saved one life in the train rather than taking one; Donelly’s encounter/conversation in the train with the supposedly psychotic boy most likely saved Donelly’s life in the end. Yes, the kid did kill his own mother but then who knows what was the real story behind that?

The flashback sequence where the boy tells the story of cow is a scene of both absurdest humor and technical brilliance. In fact I think that the film deserved an Oscar just on the technique alone. The camera work on the train is first rate and the photography of the lush Irish countryside is breathtakingly beautiful. The film is skilfully edited with a clever sense of pacing. I thought that the performances across the board were very decent and young Conroy did steal the show with his well written complex character.

Assuming that atleast some of you will watch the film, I would love to hear what you thought of this film.

In Bruges: Picked this up on the cheap from HMV yesterday and watched it straight away. One word: Brilliant. Lots of very dark comedy, although you could easily relate to the characters as they were pretty believable. Plenty of funny twists and turns and it’s got some serious subject matter too. To top it all off the scenery is great – makes you really want to go there. Don’t know whether it was the Belgian connection or just the insight of a hitman but it REALLY reminded me of a more upbeat Man Bites Dog, which is no bad thing.

Score: 9/10

IN BRUGES av Martin McDonagh (2008)
Med Colin Farrell, Brendan Gleeson, Ralph Fiennes, Clémence Poésy, Thekla Reuten, Jordan Prentice

Jag har aldrig känt mig övertygad om att det skulle vara särskilt lyckat att låta Mike Leigh och Quentin Tarantino regissera en film tillsammans. I själva verket har jag aldrig ens tänkt tanken. Det har dock uppenbarligen Martin McDonagh, men drabbad av insikten att samarbetet sannolikt aldrig blir av har han gjort filmen själv. Den heter In Bruges.

Upplägget är ganska ovanligt. Ett rätt intensivt relationsdrama som mycket minner om Mike Leighs filmer men i det här Tarantinoliknande fallet mellan tre yrkesmördande män. Vidunderligt vackra stadsscenerier från Brygge i Belgien, där filmen utspelas, varvat med brutala, blodiga uppgörelser mellan yrkesmördarna. Fast inledningsvis turistar ett par av dem i den vackra staden, samtidigt som vänskapsrelationen mellan dem utvecklas och kompliceras.

Det här fungerar förstås inte, eftersom intrigen kräver att både yrkesmördarna och människorna i deras närmaste omgivning beter sig stundtals häpnadsväckande korkat för att det alls ska bli någon film. Om bara ett par av rollgestalterna handlat marginellt förnuftigare skulle filmen ha tagit slut efter tjugo minuter. Fast det räcker inte med oprofessionella professionella yrkesmördare och människor som beter sig korkat i deras omgivning. För att intrigen inte ska falla ihop krävs dessutom ett antal osannolika sammanträffanden och en del rollgestalters oförklarliga kunskap om var andra rollgestalter för stunden råkar befinna sig.

Trots det finns det sekvenser som fungerar utmärkt, främst de inledande med Colin Farrell och Brendan Gleeson. Relationen mellan de båda yrkesmördarna, som fått den till en början obegripliga ordern att bege sig från London till Brygge, är intressant och väl gestaltad av de båda skådespelarna, som gör rolltolkningar som är djupare än filmens intrig förtjänar. Men till detta kommer alltså överrumplande och påklistrade sekvenser som gnisslande påtvingat för intrigen framåt men inte går att tro på.

Så man borde ha bestämt sig för vilken film man egentligen ville göra. Ett inkännande relationsdrama eller en brutal, mycket enkel gangsterfilm. Nu blir det väldigt mycket av kyckling med vaniljsås. Det går inte ihop.

Fast stadsscenerierna från Brygge är så praktfulla att jag måste ge vad som rimligen är stadens produktplacerande turistråd en eloge. Filmen lockar faktiskt till besök.

Kör hårt,
Bellis

In Bruges, En Brujas o Escondidos en Brujas (acá en Venezuela la han bautizado como Dos asesinos en problemas) fue una de las películas más populares de Europa durante 2008. Escrita y dirigida por Martin McDonagh, esta cinta de procedencia británica mostró un aliento nuevo dentro del panorama cinematográfico.
El aliento no hace referencia a un hallazgo grandioso, pero sí a una manera de ver menos simplista y empaquetada tras el aluvión de gángsters que Quentin Tarantino presentó al mundo en los tempranos noventa y que se convirtieron casi en una seña de identidad para una buena cantidad de seguidores (ver a Robert Rodríguez, Jan Kounen o Guy Ritchie).
Con un espíritu casi indie, -en cuanto a la forma, pues prácticamente casi todas las cintas más allá de Hollywood carecen del respaldo de los grandes estudios-, En Brujas pasa un tanto de los Vincent Vega tarantinianos para enfocarse en dos asesinos peculiares, un tanto baratos en apariencia que se encuentran en la encrucijada de sus vidas.
De vacaciones forzadas en Brujas, a petición de su jefe (un grandioso Ralph Fiennes), Ray (Colin Farell) y Ken (Brendan Gleeson) quieren dejar en el pasado el atroz final de un trabajo mal resuelto.
Ray, responsable de un error mayúsculo es quien peor lo lleva. La medieval ciudad belga lo agobia. No está de ánimos como para hacer turismo. Quizás para conocer una chica, pero no para andar paseando por los canales, ni subiendo al campanario de una iglesia ni saboreando platillos que no le dicen nada.
Ken parece más a gusto. Aquel descanso inesperado es una oportunidad para relajarse de su oficio. Como si fuese la última posibilidad de pasar un tiempo en paz, este matón sexagenario se entrega por completo al disfrute de la ciudad. Intenta insuflar un poco de entusiasmo a su inquieto compañero, y también comienza a replantearse su camino.
En un principio, McDonagh no ofrece mayor información sobre sus personajes. Sume al espectador entre esos dos polos, uno inconforme y desesperado, otro tranquilo y reposado. Autor del guión, McDonagh va tomando calles estrechas y cambia el rumbo inesperadamente, para de a poco ir revelando las bondades de su historia que también son las amarguras de sus personajes.
La vaguedad y aparente insulsa actitud que la historia respira al principio se torna más compleja, en tanto que los asuntos a resolver no son tan triviales. Pero esa pretensión inicial del guión permite que el espectador consiga encontrarse con aquéllos dos personajes de moralidad discutible y ética en la balanza. McDonagh los trata con cariño, la única manera de conseguir la empatía necesaria para compadecerlos. Ni siquiera el cruel jefe interpretado por Ralph Fiennes parece merecer la desaprobación total. Pese a su histeria, a su absoluta obsesión por cumplir con su código de conducta y aplicar la disciplina.
El joven realizador va sobre ello con pausa, y mucha elegancia. Consigue asomar el buen humor sin desmontar el tono oscuro y apesadumbrado que arrastran sus personajes y la historia misma. Brujas otorga esa luz casi mortecina y gris, más cerca del crepúsculo que del amanecer. Y si bien ya al final no hay mucho que ocultar, y a ratos se asoma un predecible final, el tempo del film y la fidelidad con los personajes hace que la historia mantenga una dignidad sin graves concesiones.
Nominada a Mejor comedia para los Globos de Oro de 2008, -con premio al Mejor actor para Colin Farrell- y nominada en la categoría a Mejor Guión en los Oscar, es probable que ahora En Brujas consiga su merecido espacio entre las pantallas más allá de Europa.

Brendan Gleeson y Colin Farrell, dos gángsters en apuros

In Bruges