"I'm sorry Ken but you can't kill a kid and expect to get away with it."

*SPOILER ALERT FOR THOSE WHO HAVEN'T SEEN IN BRUGES YET*

As everyone should know by now, In Bruges is one of my most favourite films. Among the three main characters, I usually love Colin Farrell's Ray the most. But this scene for me is all about the one and only Ralph Fiennes. I mean yes his character Harry Waters is most famous for the magnificent insult "You are an inanimate fucking object!" But in this scene we see how the vicious hitman first starts to fight for his survival, but then when it is evident that for that to happen he will have to kill his friend Ken, this reluctance seeps into his eyes. But he knows he has to do it, and so does Ken, played by the wonderful Brendan Gleeson. Their unspoken acceptance and sadness of this action, I feel even more so for Harry, makes it a very poignant scene. He has to stick to his principles, but he realises at what cost. 

That's what so amazing about this film and the characters- giving such apparently bad men a heart. Ray and Ken have the whole film to establish that. Harry has a few seconds, but we know how he feels. Bravo, Mr. Fiennes!

This has been a Ralph Fiennes appreciation post.

"Maybe that's what hell is, the entire rest of eternity spent in fucking Bruges."

            A few weeks back the trailer of upcoming film Coriolanus sparked, or rather re-sparked, my love for one of the coolest, most versatile, incredibly good-looking, and gargantuanally talented actors working today- Mr. Ralph Fiennes. The first film of his that I saw after this was In Bruges.

             I had only seen In Bruges once before, and that was when it first came on the telly about 3 years back. Having seen it again, I realise how much they had censored it- nothing censors quite like Indian HBO. Still, I had thoroughly enjoyed it, and found it very funny and violent and Irish. These were the only ideas that had remained with me since then. Seeing it now, the film felt like so much more, and it meant so much more to me than I could have imagined. But I'll get to that part later.


              In Bruges starts with Ray's (Colin Farrell) narration explaining how he had gotten a call to dump his gun and go to Bruges at once, and he was following orders. Ray is a young, slightly restless and well, tasteless man, who is accompanied by an older, calmer, relatively well-spoken man Ken (Brendan Gleeson) in his little exile in Bruges. Ken seems to really like this "fairytale" Belgian city; Ray, however, is another thing all together. He hates it there, thinks it is a shit-hole, and is really miserable all together. We later find out that both of them were marksmen for this man named Harry (Ralph Fiennes) and Ray's real misery came from his first hit-job, in which while successfully killing a priest, he accidently killed a little boy. He is ridden with guilt, and while he seems to find temporary solace in a beautiful, drug-dealing Belgian woman named Chloë (Clémence Poésy), Ray is out to "top" himself. We soon find out that Harry has similar plans for him, with the help of the sympathetic Ken.


                  I think I am getting slightly better with making vague summaries, though I have given out a major spoiler. Ah well, also know that there is a midget-actor called Jimmy, some very angry Canadians and alcoves involved.

               Acting-wise, the main three men are glorious. Since this started because of Fiennes, I'll talk about him first. Though Fiennes has made a name for himself playing villains, I think Harry was one of his most iconic villainous roles. During the first two-thirds of the film, we only hear him couple of times, and rest of the time he is spoken about by Ray and Ken. Still, he has already made quite an impression in our minds as an impatient, foul-mouthed crime boss with some idealistic principles. When we actually meet him, he proves to be exactly that. He is funny and dangerous at the same time, which is something few actors can do as well. One cannot hate Harry because we know that in all that anger, he still makes sense, and despite being a "cunt", is a bit of a softy. I think this was the most hilarious character that Fiennes has ever played, though the glare of his eyes is still as scary as ever. The climax for his character was one of the most ironic things I have even seen onscreen, and it was absolutely perfect. Moving on, Brendan Gleeson as Ken was adorable. If Harry was the more crueller side of a human being, Gleeson was the sympathetic one. He too was right in his own way, and believed in forgiving and forgetting. His final act in the film is nothing short of heroic and is shot so beautifully and poignantly, that it will remain with me forever...especially that last line. I think I have only seen Gleeson's work in Harry Potter apart from this, and he just seems like such a talent- sort of like a Paul Giamatti who can do the clever dramedy bits to perfection. Colin Farrell in this film never fails to amaze me. Honestly, I had always thought of him to be like Keanu Reeves- an actor who can make a career on being expressionless, with the right roles. Ray was a revelation. I think his character is so tragic, and still he manages to put so much humour in it. But his humour is of the pathetic human kind; the kind we only have at times of great distress and sadness when we keep trying to act normal. I love it when he is full-on Irish, and Ray was so drunkenly, rudely Irish. He was just fantastic, and rightly deserved that Golden Globe.


                  The film was the directorial debut of Martin McDonagh, who also wrote the film. I didn't know this before, and I think it has now become my favourite directorial debut ever, alongside Sofia Coppola's The Virgin Suicides. The dialogues, the look, the acting, the idea, the concept of such darling dangerous men, the sort-of prophetic ending- brilliance! This film has some of the most hilarious lines ever...some which would be a dream to quote. I love the setting- Bruges really does seem some kind of unrealistic place, which is yet to be tarnished by humans, and that makes the film all the more effective because we have some great scenes of violence in such a place. These two equal themselves out completely. 


              Now the following are the things that stood out for me this time round. Firstly, the music. The score is composed by Carter Burwell. I must admit that it has been a relatively recent development when I started caring about film scores. The first film I remember, whose score had a profound effect on me, was The Hours. In Bruges's score was something like that for me this time. From the dreamy "Medieval Waters", to the crescendoing "Shootout", and the few folksy songs like "St. John, The Gambler" and "On Raglan Road"- they all heartbreaking and beautiful. I am officially obsessed with them now.

           The next thing is much more personal. I am, at this juncture of my life, sort of like Ray in Bruges. And I personally was in love with Bruges throughout the film, and it just gets to me that that is how everyone else sees my Bruges, and I can't. So you understand how In Bruges, in this random viewing, became one of those films that transcended the screen and become part of my life in a way that I will never be without it now. I will always remember it, not only for the humour and the cusswords, but for the heart and the poignancy and the ideas it presents us with.


          My final thought is that In Bruges is a lovely film which presents a very human side to all the "bad" people of the world. I love things like The Godfather etc., but I think I like the idea of a gangster shown in this film so much more. Ouch...that's gonna come bite me in the arse later. But who cares- you're all inanimate fuckin' objects! Bruges, the fairytale and the hell, is all that matters.

"I have seen your heart, and it is mine." ~Ralph Fiennes as Lord Voldemort

Villains never looked this good. True he hasn't played as many villaineous roles as some of the other people in this list, but Ralph Fiennes has always been my favourite movie villain-actor. Except while making the list, I realised that there is one actor who is still greater (will post that next). Anyways, it still means that gorgeous and diabolical Fiennes is in my top two. Despite his very apparent superior looks, Fiennes has the ability to truly portray purly dak and evil characters, probably making him even scarier. A stellar actor as well, Fiennes truly shines onscreen as both the bad and good, but especially the bad.

A look back...

Francis Dollarhyde: I am the Dragon. And you call me insane. You are privy to a great becoming, but you recognize nothing. To me, you are a slug in the sun. You are an ant in the afterbirth. It is your nature to do one thing correctly. Before me, you rightly tremble. But, fear is not what you owe me. You owe me awe.

Lord Voldemort: I'm going to kill you, Harry Potter. I'm going to destroy you. After tonight, no one will ever again question my power. After tonight if they speak of you, they'll only speak of how you begged for death. And how I being a merciful Lord... obliged.

Harry: Don't be stupid. This is the shootout.

Hades:  I'm a god! I will live forever!

And finally...

Amon Goeth: I would like so much to reach out to you and touch you in your loneliness. What would it be like, I wonder? What would be wrong with that? I realize that you are not a person in the strictest sense of the word, but, um, maybe you're right about that too. Maybe what's wrong, it's not us, it's this... I mean, when they compare you to vermin, to rodents and to lice. I just, uh, you make a good point. You make a very good point. Is this the face of a rat? Are these the eyes of a rat? "Hath not a Jew eyes?" I feel for you Helen.

No, I don't think so. You Jewish bitch, you nearly talked me into it, didn't you?


       Amon Goeth is a legend... one of the reasons why I prefer The Pianist to Schindler's List is the reason that I felt the villain had more character than the hero (I love you Liam Neeson still). My mum still gets amazed when I tell her that guy is Voldemort.

This is part 7 of Favourite Actors playing Villains and Anti-heroes.