Breaking down Colin Farrell’s rookie hitman from ‘In Bruges’
In the niche realm of alternative Christmas movies, Martin McDonagh’s In Bruges is considered to be one of the very best. Released years before his award-winning 2017 film Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri, In Bruges is McDonagh’s festive debut and loaded with spunky, eccentric Irish charm and quippy cynicism, gifting stars Brendan Gleeson and Colin Farrell a narrative playground to explore and build their characters.
Lit with classy Christmas lights, the Belgian city of Bruges has never looked better than in McDonagh’s violent crime thriller, which tells the peculiarly plodding and somewhat quaint story of two hitmen who retreat to the peaceful city after a job gone wrong. Whilst Ken (Gleeson) is more than happy to explore the sights of the city, Ray (Farrell) isn’t so keen on exploration, falling into a deep mental hole after making a gruesome mistake during his previous job.
“Two weeks, in fuckin’ Bruges. In a room like this? With you? No way!” Colin Farrell’s Ray cries, whilst the pair lay low, working out how best to assess the fragility of their situation. Awaiting orders from their boss Harry Waters (Ralph Fiennes), a murderous criminal with a hilariously short temper, Ray and Ken spend much of the early part of the film begrudgingly exploring the city whilst engaging with the vibrant locals.
Far from cut-and-paste stereotypes, the pair of hitmen are not ruthless James Bond henchmen, rather, they are both broken individuals who aren’t lovers of their own vicious profession. Ken holds a fatherly relationship with Ray, offering a stoic outlook on life to the newbie hitman Ray who already regrets joining the shady line of work after mistakenly killing a young boy whilst carrying out the murder of a parish priest.
A broken individual with a shadowy past, Ray is a character the viewer can easily sympathise with, appearing comically normal as he attempts to reconcile with his unforgivable crime. Without any criminal bravado, Ray is an unashamed ‘bad guy’ who gradually realises his mistakes throughout the film and, through meeting Chloë (Clémence Poésy), a beautiful local drug dealer, realises he can try and do some good for a change.
Unable to see past the depravity of Ray’s mistake, the boss requests that Ken murder him to cover their tracks and see that his crimes are brought to justice. Asking to meet him at the park, Ken approaches Ray from behind and aims his silenced pistol at his head, pausing only for a second when Ray pulls out a revolver himself and aims it at his temple. Ironically stopping him from suicide, despite the fact that he was just about to take Ray’s life himself, the scene is one of the most memorable moments in In Bruges, demonstrating the concealed humanity in both protagonists.
Ray is one of McDonagh’s finest characters in his four-movie-deep filmography, providing a fine balance between being a melodramatic comedian and a genuinely sensitive human being. Though he is presumed to be a middle-aged man in In Bruges, Ray acts with the moral uncertainty of a teenager, often acting on a whim whilst making rash decisions that barely better his current situation. Yet, despite his complaints and emotional immaturity, Ray remains an endearing figure, capable of charming you one minute and inevitably letting you down the next.
