In Bruges Literary Elements

In Bruges Literary Elements

Director

Martin McDonagh

Leading Actors/Actresses

Colin Farrell and Brendan Gleeson

Supporting Actors/Actresses

Ralph Fiennes, Clémence Poésy, and Jordan Prentice

Genre

Black Comedy

Language

English

Awards

Martin McDonagh was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay for his work on In Bruges.

Date of Release

February 8, 2008

Producer

Graham Broadbent and Peter Czernin

Setting and Context

Bruges, Belgium; the present day

Narrator and Point of View

The film is told through the point of view of narrator Ray (Colin Farrell).

Tone and Mood

Comedic, Fun, Dark, Violent, Cunning, and Mysterious

Protagonist and Antagonist

Ray (Protagonist) vs. Harry Waters (Antagonist)

Major Conflict

The major conflict arises from Ray's struggle to keep his mouth shut and survive in the face of mounting pressure—and the always-increasing threat of death by assassination (most likely by his employers).

Climax

The climax occurs when Ray tries to commit suicide and when Harry tells Ken that he is going to kill Ray.

Foreshadowing

Ken's line to Harry foreshadows their death by suicide: "He's [Ray] suicidal. You're suicidal. I'm suicidal. Everybody's f*cking suicidal, but we don't go on about it do we?"

Understatement

The extent of Ray's stupidity is understated throughout the film.

Innovations in Filming or Lighting or Camera Techniques

In Bruges is no doubt a well-made and well-shot film, but it was not innovative in filming or lighting or camera techniques.

Allusions

Allusions were made to the following films: Don't Look Now, Taxi Driver, Star Wars IV: A New Hope, Time Bandits, Shrek, and Kingdom of Heaven. Allusions were also made to geography (of Europe and Bruges, specifically), religion, mythology, and popular culture.

Paradox

Ken and Harry don't indicate that they want to kill themselves, yet both kill themselves.

Parallelism

No major examples of parallelism can be found in In Bruges.

Update this section!

You can help us out by revising, improving and updating this section.

Update this section

After you claim a section you’ll have 24 hours to send in a draft. An editor will review the submission and either publish your submission or provide feedback.

Cite this page