Line #96 Film/InBruges


1	[[quoteright:349:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/in_bruges_67.png]]
2	[[caption-width-right:349:[[LondonEnglandSyndrome ...it's in Belgium.]]]]
3
4	-> ''"...Fucking Bruges."''
5	--> -- '''[[ArcWords Everyone in the entire film]]'''
6
7	''In Bruges'' is a 2008 [[{{Dramedy}} tragicomedy]] about two Irish hitmen hiding out in UsefulNotes/{{Belgium}}. Ray (Creator/ColinFarrell) is a rookie with a foul mouth, a fouler disposition, and a bizarre obsession with "midgets". Ken (Creator/BrendanGleeson) is an experienced professional with intellectual interests and curiosity about the medieval city's history (though he's no slouch in the profanity department). They spend their days exploring the city, waiting for [[BadBoss their even more foul-mouthed boss]], English gangster Harry (Creator/RalphFiennes), to call them and tell them what to do next, all the while providing much witty commentary about [[WorldLimitedToThePlot beautiful-but-boring Bruges]].
8
9	[[FirstLawOfTragicomedies And then everything goes to hell.]]
10
11	First, it's revealed that Ray's last hit went horribly wrong, and he's consumed with guilt over it. Then, he just keeps running into a Creator/HieronymusBosch painting of purgatory, a dwarf actor playing in a film based on a Hieronymus Bosch painting of purgatory, a cool chick who sells drugs to a dwarf actor playing in a film based on a Hieronymus Bosch painting of purgatory, and, well, a coked-out vision of purgatory. Ray spends his days grumpy, wondering if he'll go to hell or heaven or purgatory. And [[YouAllShareMyStory the more things start to come together]], the more they fall apart.
12
13	The film is the first directorial effort of by British/Irish theatre director/playwright Creator/MartinMcDonagh.
14	----
15	!!This movie provides examples of:
16
17	* AccidentalChildKillerBackstory: [[spoiler:The CollateralDamage variant. Rookie hitman Ray is sent to Bruges after royally screwing up his first assignment: shooting a Catholic priest in a confession booth, only for a stray bullet to kill a little boy waiting to give confession. While he appears snarky on the outside, the guilt is quickly making him manic and suicidal.]]
18	* ActionFilmQuietDramaScene: A PerspectiveFlip of the ratio of quiet to action scenes.
19	* AdaptationalNationality: In the original script, Ray and Ken are English, but when Colin Farrell and Brendan Gleeson came on board, the characters were changed to Irish as to suit their natural sensibilities.
20	* AffablyEvil:
21	** Harry Waters' whole plan is to give Ray the pleasant experience of visiting Bruges before [[spoiler:he has Ken kill him]]. Undercut by the fact that [[spoiler:Ray utterly despises fuckin' Bruges]].
22	** At best, he also WouldntHurtAChild, and [[spoiler:kills himself after believing he has, in accordance with the principle he held Ray to]]. He even has trouble killing [[spoiler:Ken without a fight]], [[PragmaticVillainy refuses to have a shootout around a bunch of civilians and tourists]], and even works with Ray to shoo a pregnant woman who won't leave the room, finally agreeing to have their fight outside so as not to shoot up her house.
23	** Even when Harry buys special bullets that cause head explosions, ''he acts like someone breaking a diet'':
24	-->'''Harry''': [reluctant] I know I shouldn't... but I will.
25	* AlasPoorVillain: Whatever you think of [[spoiler: Harry]], his death is pretty tragic, [[spoiler: killing himself because he thinks (incorrectly) that he has just accidentally shot a child dead. The fact that Ray, the guy Harry was just trying to murder a few moments beforehand for doing the literal same thing, actually tries to stop him makes it even worse.]]
26	* AlmostDeadGuy: [[spoiler:Ken]]. He is barely alive enough to warn Ray about Harry. Then he dies.
27	* AmbiguousEnding: [[spoiler: Ray was shot several times through his back, but an ambulance arrived on scene to rescue him. While his narration remains when he's carried into the ambulance, the movie ends right as the dying Ray gets loaded into the ambulance, leaving it open if he will live or die. As for the redemption storyline, it is left open as to whether or not Ray redeemed himself from the guilt, and if he will continue to stay in a metaphorical purgatory or go to heaven or hell.]]
28	* AntiVillain: Harry may be a murderous hitman with a bit of an anger issue, but that doesn't make him that much worse than Ken and Ray. Especially considering how strictly principled he is about his work, that he's apparently a [[EvenEvilHasLovedOnes committed family man]], and the favours he did for Ken.
29	* AnyoneCanDie: [[spoiler:All but one of the lead characters (probably) die; out of Ray, Ken, Harry, Chloë and Jimmy, the only people who don't die on screen are Chloë and Ray, and the latter has been fatally shot several times.]]
30	* ArsonMurderAndJaywalking: The park scene:
31	-->'''Ray''': What a great day this turned out to be. I'm suicidal, me mate's [[spoiler:trying to kill me]], me gun gets nicked, and ''we're still in fucking Bruges.''
32	* AteHisGun: [[spoiler:Harry does this]] in the final scene.
33	* [[AttentionDeficitOohShiny Attention Deficit... Ooh, They're Filming Midgets!]]
34	* AutobotsRockOut: Most of the soundtrack is tinkly piano music, of the sort that is played while the camera focuses on the ripples made by a swan's passage through a canal. However, towards the end of the movie, in the first genuine action sequence, a snarling electric guitar shows up.
35	* BackhandedApology: Does this sound like an apology?
36	-->'''Harry''': You fucking retract that bit about my cunt fucking kids!
37	-->'''Ken''': I retract that bit about your cunt fucking kids.
38	* {{Bathos}}: Along with the black comedy elements, the story also explores themes of morality. Lines like "I'm gonna die now, I think."
39	* BenevolentBoss: Harry seems very protective of his men, in his own way. When Ken's wife was murdered in the BackStory, Harry found and killed the man responsible. The whole ordeal in Bruges was meant to be a peaceful vacation for Ray [[spoiler: before Harry would have him offed for killing a kid]], except that Ray just found the place so painfully boring.
40	* BerserkButton:
41	** Harry's got quite the HairTriggerTemper, but insulting his kids is crossing the line.
42	-->'''Ken''': Harry, let's face it. And I'm not being funny. I mean no disrespect, but you're a cunt. You're a cunt now, and you've always been a cunt. And the only thing that's going to change is that you're going to be an even bigger cunt. Maybe have some more cunt kids.
43	-->'''Harry''': [[ITakeOffenseToThatLastOne Leave my kids fucking out of it!]] What have they done? ''You fucking retract that bit about my cunt fucking kids!''
44	-->'''Ken''': I retract that bit about your cunt fucking kids.
45	-->'''Harry''': Insult my fucking kids? That's going overboard, mate!
46	-->'''Ken''': I retracted it, didn't I? ({{Beat}}) Still leaves you a cunt...
47	-->'''Harry''': Yeah, I fucking got that!
48	** And to a lesser extent, Ken when it comes to racists - at least partially because [[spoiler: his wife (who was black) was killed by a white man, presumably for racist reasons]].
49	* BigBrotherMentor: Ken.
50	* BittersweetEnding / DownerEnding: Depending on whether you think [[spoiler:Ray dies of his wounds at the end. While Ken, Jimmy and Harry are all dead, the only real upside is that in his ending monologue, he has realized he doesn't want to die.]]
51	* BlackComedy: From that black part of the light spectrum that only Creator/MartinScorsese can see.
52	* BloodFromTheMouth: [[spoiler:Ray]] at the end.
53	* BrickJoke: Ken and Harry aren't allowed in the tower because "an American had a heart attack".
54	* BullyingADragon: The tower guard, who quite likes his job, refusing a bribe and literally poking Harry's forehead as he makes his point. [[HairTriggerTemper Harry]] doesn't take it lightly.
55	* CallBack:
56	** The Canadian woman [[spoiler:coming at Ray with a bottle]].
57	** Ray calling Jimmy "short-arse."
58	** [[spoiler:After being shot, Ray murmurs, "The little boy," when he sees Jimmy, the same words the priest utters during Ray's botched hit.]]
59	* TheCameo: A brief shot of [[https://www.townandcountrymag.com/leisure/arts-and-culture/news/a4989/fidel-celebrity-labrador/ Fidel]], a golden Labrador Retriever who was famous for sitting in a window overlooking the canal, watching everyone go by with a peaceful expression.
60	* CatchPhrase : "You an American?"
61	--> "Yeah... but don't hold it against me."
62	* ChekhovsGun:
63	** The tower custodian refusing to take Ken's just-short spare change. [[spoiler: Ken tosses the coins from the tower to warn passers-by below that he's going to jump to his death]].
64	** Earlier in the film, Ray claims the buildings will look better at night when they're all lit up. [[spoiler: In the film's climax, the very same lights prevent Ken from seeing down to the street and shooting Harry.]]
65	** The dumdum rounds Harry accepts from Yuri. [[spoiler: During the final chase, he reloads his clip with several of them, eventually leading to him shooting one through Ray and right into Jimmy's head, exploding it and making it impossible for Harry to tell he's a dwarf, not a child]].
66	** Subverted with the pistol Ray steals from Eirik. It is fired twice with blanks (once to test, once to blind Eirik), ''but never fired after being loaded with live rounds''; [[spoiler:Ken stops Ray from committing suicide with it, Ray hesitates using it on Harry for fear of hitting Marie, and the gun is then dropped in the canal before Ray can fire back at Harry.]]
67	** Subverted as well with ''Ken's'' gun as well. [[spoiler:He is given it to kill Ray, something he never goes through with. He keeps it with him for a possible showdown with Harry, but ultimately refuses to shoot Harry out of gratitude for all Harry had done for him. He finally puts in within his clothes to keep it secure when he jumps off the top of the bell tower to warn Ray that Harry was coming, so Ray would have it to protect himself, but it completely breaks from the force of impact with the ground.]]
68	** About the only thing that never becomes relevant again after being introduced, whether by actual use or subversion, is the acid and ecstasy Ray stole and gave to Ken near the end. After he does, it never comes up again.
69	* ChekhovsGunman: The [[spoiler: Canadians]] that Ray knocked out.
70	* ChildrenAreSpecial: The impetus of the plot.
71	* ClosedCircle: Aside from a flashback, a scene on a train, and a scene at Harry's house, the entire movie takes place in Bruges, much to Ray's displeasure. [[spoiler:As he is possibly dying at the end, Ray wonders if Purgatory might be the rest of eternity spent in fuckin Bruges.]]
72	* ClusterFBomb: Ray, sometimes Ken, and [[LampshadeHanging lampshadingly-so]] with Harry Waters.
73	-->"Geez, he swears a lot, don't he? [[note]] The DVD contains all the profanity ([[RunningGag and Bruges]]) in the movie [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jDyEbUUpiLc edited into a single montage]]. Despite very rapid editing, it runs over a minute and a half.[[/note]]
74	* CollateralDamage: Ray performs a hit on a priest and manages to also accidentally kill an altar boy in the process. Harry's gun ends up over-penetrating when he shoots Ray, [[spoiler: killing Jimmy in the process.]]
75	* ComedicWorkSeriousScene: Ray's [[spoiler: attempted suicide]] is an absolutely heartwrenching scene in an otherwise darkly comedic film.
76	* ContractOnTheHitman: [[spoiler:Happens to Ray himself.]]
77	* ContrivedCoincidence: Ray probably would've gotten farther [[spoiler: if only the train he traveled on didn't also happen to carry the very same Canadian couple he previously assaulted, who recognize him and get him escorted by the police back to Bruges]].
78	* ConvenientEscapeBoat / OffBridgeOntoVehicle: Ray, attempting to outrun Harry, jumps onto a bypassing boat. [[spoiler:Unfortunately, he drops his gun after landing, and gets shot anyway.]]
79	* CountryMatters: Unleashed no less than '''twelve''' times. "Harry, let's face it- and I'm not being funny, [[WithAllDueRespect and I mean no disrespect]]- but you're a cunt. You're a cunt now, you've always been a cunt, and the only thing that's gonna change is that you're gonna become an even bigger cunt, [[ITakeOffenseToThatLastOne maybe have some more cunt kids]]."
80	* CrouchingMoronHiddenBadass: Ray is a neurotic mess who badly bungles his hitman job, but he also casually wins every hand-to-hand fight he has, including disarming a man with a gun pointed at him and [[OneHitKill One Hit Punching]] out several others.
81	* DeadlyRoadTrip: Two hitmen are sent to relax in Bruges by their boss who wants the younger hitman to have a nice holiday before [[spoiler:whacking him for accidentally killing a child during a hit.]]
82	* DeadpanSnarker: More like WorldOfSnark, since various characters try to out-match one another.
83	* DeathByCameo: Creator/CiaranHinds as the priest Ray kills in the prologue. Not [[Film/RoadToPerdition the first time]] Hinds' murder by Irish gangsters set off a plot.
84	* DeathOfAChild: [[spoiler:This is something Harry Waters cannot tolerate the hitmen he hires doing. So what happens when one of his new recruit does this [[MurderByMistake by mistake]]? He attempts to have the said hitman killed.]]
85	* DescriptionCut: Ken tells Harry that Ray could be in any of the million towns in mainland Europe by this time. Cut to Ray being released from his jail cell in Bruges.
86	* TheDeterminator: Ken and his [[spoiler:climb-to-the-top-of-the-bell-tower-with-a-shot-leg-and-punctured-artery-so-you-can-jump-off-and-tell-Ray-to-take-your-gun-and-run-before-you-die]] determination.
87	* DramaticIrony: [[spoiler:Harry kills himself because he doesn't know the small person whose head he blew off was a dwarf and not a child.]]
88	* DressingToDie: [[spoiler:Ken]] dressing himself up before a mirror for his last day.
89	* DrivenToSuicide:
90	** Guilt-ridden [[spoiler:Ray]], in a case of InterruptedSuicide.
91	** [[spoiler:Harry, once he mistakenly assumed he's killed a child]].
92	* DrowningMySorrows: Ken downs a couple of pints after receiving the order to [[spoiler:off his partner]]. When Ray joins, he lampshades the trope.
93	-->'''Ray''': Hey-ho. [[IfOnlyYouKnew Drowning your sorrows]], huh?
94	* DudeNotFunny: The "Race War" rant from Jimmy draws this reaction from nearly everyone else in the room, especially Ken. Even Ray, who is still laughing, is mostly laughing at the stupidity of the idea. Jimmy himself later blames it on cocaine, a drug that can quite easily turn nice guys into arrogant arseholes.
95	* {{Eagleland}}: Parodied with Jimmy the dwarf:
96	-->'''Ken''': You from the States?\
97	'''Jimmy''': Yeah. Don't hold it against me.\
98	'''Ken''': I'll try not to. Just try not to say anything too loud or crass.
99	* EiffelTowerEffect: [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Belfry_of_Bruges The Belfry of Bruges]] is visible in several shots, primarily to remind you that they're still in [[VerbalTic fuckin']] Bruges (and to later [[ConservationOfDetail serve as a location]]).
100	* EvenEvilHasLovedOnes: Harry is a ruthless mob boss and may well be a sociopath, but he has a wife and children that he cares about and expresses enough regard for Ken to apologize when he [[spoiler: fatally wounds him.]]
101	* EvenEvilHasStandards:
102	** Harry considering that killing kids is definitely not an option. [[spoiler:Even killing himself when he believes he shot one.]]
103	** Also, neither Ray nor Harry would fight in the inn with the innocent (and pregnant) landlady there.
104	* EvilCannotComprehendGood: When they're in the tower, Harry is honestly baffled when Ken refuses to [[spoiler:pick up his gun]] and instead starts talking about how much he respects and cares for him.
105	* EyeScream: A crook tries to rob Ray with a gun loaded with blanks. Ray disarms him and shoots him from point-blank range, permanently blinding him in one eye.
106	* FaceDeathWithDignity:
107	** [[spoiler:Ken lays down his weapon because he had no desire to fight or kill Harry at that point. Harry, being a NobleDemon, can't shoot an unarmed man - so settles for shooting him in the leg.]]
108	** [[spoiler: He also adjusts his tie right before jumping off the tower.]]
109	* FakeoutEscape: Discussed by Harry during the MexicanStandoff at the hotel.
110	-->'''Harry''': Do you [Ray] completely promise to jump into the canal? I don't want to run out there, come back in 10 minutes and find you fucking hiding in a cupboard.
111	* FightingIrish: Ray and Ken to some extent, based on their accents.
112	* FirstLawOfTragicomedies: Not as adhered to as most: even in the tensest situations, there's comedic exchanges like [[spoiler:Ray and Harry concocting a plan to continue their shootout outside]].
113	* {{Foreshadowing}}:
114	** Ray mentions that attacking or killing someone capable of karate or wielding a bottle as a weapon is justified as it's self defense. [[spoiler:A few scenes later, Ray punches a woman who swings a bottle at him, and even insists to Chloë it's self defense if they "have a bottle or know karate".]]
115	** Harry's honor code against killing children.
116	-->'''Harry''': [[spoiler: If I had killed a little kid, accidentally or otherwise, I wouldn't have thought twice. I'd have killed myself on the spot. I'd have put the gun in my mouth and killed myself, on the fucking spot.]]
117	** [[spoiler:There's also Harry remarking "I'd like to see Bruges again before I die."]]
118	** When Ken first gets to the top of the tower, he makes a finger gun at Ray way down at the bottom and mimes shooting him. [[spoiler: He's much less enthused when he's told to do it for real. And even more so when he decides to try and shoot Harry from the tower after being shot in the neck and leg, but finds that the "fantasy land" fog has rolled in.]]
119	** When talking to Ken about [[spoiler: Ray wanting to kill himself]], Harry remarks "He's suicidal. You're suicidal. ''I'm'' suicidal. Everybody's fucking suicidal, but we don't go on about it do we?". [[spoiler: By the end of the movie both Harry and Ken have killed themselves, and Ray--funnily enough--is the only one who didn't actually commit suicide.]]
120	** [[spoiler: Ray constantly commenting on how many midgets end up shooting themselves in the head]].
121	* FunnyForeigner: The officer:
122	-->'''Officer''': You heet the Canadian?\
123	'''Ray''': What?\
124	'''Officer''': You heet the Canadian?\
125	'''Ray''': [imitating] ''I heet the Canadian?''
126	* GoodGunsBadGuns: Discussed:
127	-->'''Harry''': An Uzi? I'm not from [[{{Gangsterland}} South Central]] Los [[PrecisionFStrike fucking]] Angeles. I didn't come here to shoot [[WouldntHurtAChild twenty black ten-year olds]] in a [[ClusterFBomb fucking]] drive-by. I want a normal gun for a normal person.
128	* GoThroughMe: Marie, in the stand-off between Ray and [[spoiler:Harry]].
129	* GrievousBottleyHarm: "In my book, though, [[{{Foreshadowing}} someone comes at you with a bottle]], I'm sorry, that is a deadly weapon, he's gotta take the consequences."
130	* HairTriggerTemper: Harry.
131	* HeroicSacrifice: [[spoiler:Despite being shot in the leg and neck, Ken manages to climb back up to the bell tower and jump to the ground, alerting Ray to Harry's presence.]]
132	* HookersAndBlow
133	-->'''Ray''': [[MotorMouth IvegotfourgramsonmeandonegraminmewhichiswhymeheartsgoingliketheclappersasifIamabouttohaveaheartattacksoif IcollapseanyminutenowpleaseremembertotellthedoctorsthatImighthavesomethingtodowiththecoke...Whydidntyouwavehellotometodaywheniwavedhellotoyoutoday?]]
134	* HopeSpot:
135	** [[spoiler: Ray is on a train to almost anywhere and freedom, but is arrested and taken back to Bruges because of the asshole Canadian from the restaurant.]]
136	** During the final confrontation, [[spoiler: Ray makes a spectacular landing on a boat, putting some distance between Harry and himself. Unfortunately, it is not enough because he loses his gun and then gets shot]].
137	* HollywoodBlanks: Averted. A petty crook tries to rob one of the main characters, who he doesn't realize is a much more dangerous gangster. The main character takes the crook's gun away from him and shoots him in the face. The gun turns out to be loaded with blanks, but the blast of flame and hot gas destroys one of the petty crook's eyes. The main character then upbraids him for being stupid enough to try to rob somebody without real bullets in the gun.
138	* HypocriticalHumor:
139	-->'''Ray''': "Stop whinging like a big gay baby... whining ''I haven't had a shag in months''!"
140	* IDontPayYouToThink: Harry has this response when Ken tells him about Ray feeling suicidal.
141	-->'''Harry''': When I phoned you yesterday, did I ask you, "[[SarcasmMode Ken, would you do me a favour and become Ray's psychiatrist, please]]?" No. What I think I asked you was, "Would you go blow his fucking head off for me?"
142	* InelegantBlubbering: In the park when [[spoiler: Ray cries into Ken's chest]]. Definitely ''not'' PlayedForLaughs.
143	* InterruptedSuicide:
144	** Interrupted by someone trying to ''kill'' the guy who is trying to kill himself. Awkward.
145	** And then [[spoiler: this is subverted when Ray tries to stop Harry from committing suicide. He's so wounded that he can't finish his sentence, and Harry dies thinking he killed a child]].
146	* ImpliedRape: Though the priest is not explicitly a [[PedophilePriest pedophile]] (he's killed for trying to stop a housing project), all the characters suspect that he could be one. Harry especially loathes priests, WouldntHurtAChild, and describes his childhood holiday in Bruges as one of his last happy memories, which might suggest that he was molested as a child by a priest.
147	* IronicEcho:
148	** [[spoiler:Not only does Harry state that he would kill himself on the spot if he did what Ray did, but he ends up effectively doing the exact same thing to a dwarf whom he mistakes for a child.]]
149	** Ken and Harry, about Bruges being "a fairytale fucking town / like a (fucking) fairytale or something".
150	* {{Irony}}: '''Situational''' - [[spoiler:Ken, about to kill Ray, lowers his gun when he spots he has his revolver; then, when Ray is about to kill himself, ''Ken puts away his gun and stops Ray killing himself.'']]
151	** When Harry hears about this, he's absolutely dumbfounded as it would have solved ''the entire mess'' he was having to clean up.
152	--->'''Harry''': This gets fuckin' worse! [[LetMeGetThisStraight Let me get this right]], not only have you [[spoiler: refused to kill the boy, you've even stopped the boy from killing himself. Which would have solved my problem, which would've solved ''your'' problem, which sounds like it would've [[DespairEventHorizon solved the boy's problem]].]]
153	* ITakeOffenseToThatLastOne: Harry has no problem being told that he is, was and always will be a cunt, but if you call his kids cunts, he gets quite upset.
154	* ItsWhatIDo: When the arms dealer asks Ken if he is gonna [[spoiler: kill his partner]], Ken responds with this line.
155	* {{Jerkass}}: Everyone have a fair share of moments for being this. Harry, Eirik and the Canadian guy in particular.
156	* JerkassHasAPoint:
157	** Harry may be a foulmouthed violent psychopath, but there's no arguing with his logic on this point.
158	-->'''Harry''': I'm sorry Ken. But you can't [[spoiler:kill a kid]] and expect to get away with it. You just can't.
159	** When the man in the restaurant is upset about getting smoke blown in his face, Ray could have just let it go, but he escalates it into a fight just because he thinks the man is an uppity American. That said, he first points out to the man that they're sitting in the smoking section of the restaurant.
160	** When the overweight American tourist ask Ray about the tower, he strongly advises against it and is even polite about it initially before losing his patience and calls him and his family 'elephants'. [[spoiler:Even more so when it's revealed the tourist had an heart attack going up the tower thus causing to be closed.]]
161	* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: Ray may be a rude, bigoted pottymouth, but he feels genuinely guilty for [[spoiler: shooting the little boy]]. Ken tactfully suggests that he might not really be cut out to be a professional killer.
162	* KillMeNowOrForeverStayYourHand: The standoff between Harry and Ken in the tower. [[spoiler:Partially subverted when Harry shoots Ken in the leg; fully subverted when Harry shoots to kill to prevent Ken from stopping Harry's attempt to kill Ray.]]
163	* KnightTemplar: Harry. [[spoiler:While it's somewhat understandable that he refuses to forgive the killing of children, he ends up ''killing himself on the spot when he believes he's violated his own principal rule.'']]
164	* LampshadedDoubleEntendre: PlayedForLaughs when Ray talks about accidentally killing someone when his hit went wrong:
165	-->'''Ray''': I know I didn't mean to... but because of the choices I made, and the course that I put into action, [he] isn't here anymore, and he'll never be here again. ({{beat}}) ...I mean here in the world, ''not here in Belgium.'' Well he'll never be here in Belgium either, will he? I mean he might have wanted to come here when he got older. I don't know why.
166	* LimitedWardrobe: Except for the flashback, Ray wears a single outfit throughout the whole movie. While he does remove his jacket and unbutton his shirt, he has no other change of clothes. Ken, on the other hand, has [[DressingToDie several]] wardrobe changes.
167	* LittlePeopleAreSurreal: Chloe tells Ray they used the dwarf actor for a dream sequence.
168	* LittleUselessGun: When comparing weapons, Ray notes that Ken has a suppressor on his, then laments that his snubnose revolver is "a bloody girl's gun".
169	* LondonGangster: Harry. Ken and Ray are London-based but are obviously Irish. Ray explicitly mentions being from Dublin and since Brendan Gleeson uses his own accent Ken is presumably a Dubliner too.
170	** WordOfGod says Ray and Ken were originally supposed to be British, but [[RealLifeWritesThePlot once Colin Farrell and Brendan Gleeson signed on]] he rewrote the script to make them Irish, turning this into an aversion of FakeBrit.
171	* LiquidCourage: Ray takes a pointed gulp of his bottle before racing off to flirt with a gorgeous girl;
172	* TheLostLenore: It's revealed that Ken works for Harry because [[NoodleImplements Harry found and killed the man who murdered Ken's wife.]] Not only is it brought up for drama, but it happened in the '70s ''and Ken is still visibly wearing his wedding ring.''
173	* {{Love Interest\|s}}: Chloe.
174	* ManlyTears: After a trying day, Ray finally collapses into Ken's arms in tears [[spoiler:overwhelmed with guilt over killing the little boy.]]
175	* MexicanStandoff: PlayedForLaughs in the hotel scene.
176	* MoodWhiplash: One of the film's defining features. It sometimes even happens mid-scene (such as the scene about the [[ItMakesSenseInContext "50-year-old lollipop man who knows karate"]]). Remember, Administrivia/TropesAreNotBad.
177	* MoreDakka: Averted by Harry's choice of weapon when buying guns. He is offered an Uzi, but is disdainful of it, asking for "a normal gun for a normal person". [[spoiler:Considering his accuracy with the pistol from distance in the shootout aiming for and hitting a moving target (Ray) in centre mass with just the iron sights, this may have been for the best.]]
178	* MuggingTheMonster: The crook who tries to rob Ray.
179	* MyGreatestFailure: [[spoiler: Ray can't get over accidentally shooting a little boy.]]
180	** It deserves mentioning that this was also apparently on his ''first'' job.
181	* NeverTrustATrailer: The entire trailer is played as a very, very upbeat crime comedy. The marketers must have forgot that it's a TearJerker.
182	** For one, one scene was played in the trailers for (dark) comedy when it was actually the lead-up to the central drama of the piece: Ray pulls off his [[spoiler:first]] hit against the priest, quipping all the way; the clip in the trailer cuts off before [[spoiler:he discovers that a stray or overpenetrating bullet killed a small child awaiting confession]].
183	* NobleDemon: Harry has principles.
184	* NoGoodDeedGoesUnpunished: Despite being kind of a JerkAss, Jimmy seems genuinely concerned when [[spoiler:Ray stumbles onto the film set Jimmy is working on bleeding from a bullet wound and goes to check on him. This leads to him getting his head blown off by an overpenetrating bullet of Harry's.]]
185	* NoYou: Harry's response to his wife's statement that the phone he's smashing is "an inanimate fucking object".
186	-->"''You're'' an inanimate fucking object!"
187	* ObliviousGuiltSlinging: Having [[SarcasticConfession both revealed their professions to one another]], Chloë jokingly tells Ray he looks [[spoiler:like the sort of hit-man who'd kill children]].
188	* OddCouple: Pensive, knowledge-seeking Ken vs. twitchy, hedonistic Ray.
189	* OneHitPolykill: [[spoiler:In his first job, one of Ray's bullets passed through the priest (his target) and kills a little boy; Harry later accidentally kills Jimmy with a bullet that passes through Ray.]]
190	* TheOner: Ken's phone conversation with Harry is filmed in a single six-minute take. This is lampshaded at the start of the scene where Ken is watching the famous introduction from ''Film/TouchOfEvil''.
191	* OohMeAccentsSlipping: The fat American patriarch is played by a Welshman, which shows particularly when he angrily exclaims "Right you!" - a very British saying - at Ken as he tries to beat him up.
192	* OpenMouthInsertFoot: Ray at some points. Not only does he try to woo Chloë by talking about how famous midgets and dwarves tend to kill themselves, ''but he calls her hometown a shithole in conversation'':
193	-->'''Chloë''': Okay. So, you've insulted my home town. You were doing really well, Raymond. Why don't you tell me some Belgium jokes while you're at it?\
194	'''Ray''': Don't know any Belgium jokes, and if I did [[SubvertedTrope I think I'd have the good sense not to]]-- ({{beat}}) [[DoubleSubverted ...hang on]]. Is Belgium with all those child abuse murders lately? I do know a Belgium joke. What's Belgium famous for? Chocolates and child abuse, [[CrossesTheLineTwice and they only invented the chocolates to get to the kids]].
195	* OverlyLongGag: Ken trying to make five Euro out of his coins to avoid having to break a note.
196	* PercussiveTherapy: When Ken tells Harry over the phone that he is not following his orders, the latter takes his anger out on the telephone.
197	* PlaceWorseThanDeath: Bruges, for Ray. It's one of the main gags of the film, and it gets to be explored comically (everybody drops an F-strike about the place at least once), tragically (the whole idea of sending Ray here was to give him a ''nice'' final few days) and even gets existential about it (Ray actually wonders whether or not the city is his personal Purgatory).
198	* PopCulturalOsmosisFailure: After [[spoiler:Harry shoots Ken in the leg instead of killing him]], he scathingly compares Ken to "Robert fucking Powell". Ken has no idea who he's talking about and he has to clarify: Robert Powell who played Jesus in ''Series/JesusOfNazareth''.
199	* PrankDate: It's left ambiguous if Chloe's date with Ray was intended to be one of these.
200	* PrecisionFStrike: [[spoiler:The hotel owner, Marie]] telling Ray and Harry to fuck off.
201	* PregnantBadass: Marie, the hotel owner. While not kicking huge amounts of ass in the traditional sense, she shows enormous courage, standing up to an armed man and refusing to let him upstairs. Even Harry is impressed, and decides to negotiate with Ray to take the fight outside.
202	* PreMortemOneLiner: In the flashback, Ray tries one of these before shooting the priest through the {{confessional}}.
203	* PrettyLittleHeadshots: Played straight with regular bullets. Avoided when the [[BoomHeadshot "dum-dums"]] get used.
204	* ProfessionalKiller: Ken, Ray, Harry.
205	* PunchClockVillain: All three leads.
206	* {{Punctuated Po\|unding}}king: "The. Tower. Is. Closed. This. Evening! Understand? Englishman?"
207	* RasputinianDeath: Ken gets shot in the arm, then a much deadlier shot in the chest, ''then'' jumps off the cathedral to alert Ray.
208	* TheReasonYouSuckSpeech: Harry to Eirik (Creator/JeremieRenier), after hearing about how Ray blinded him with his own blank-firing pistol:
209	-->'''Harry''': I mean, basically, if you're robbing a man and you're only carrying blanks and you allow your gun to be taken off you and you allow yourself to be shot in the eye with a blank, which I assume that the person has to get quite close to you, then, yeah, really it's all your fault for being such a poof, ''so why don't you stop whinging and cheer the fuck up?''
210	* RecklessGunUsage: {{Averted}} beautifully. Ken is very careful with his guns. Harry locks his guns away when he's at home so his kids can't get at them. Both Ken and Harry practice good trigger discipline throughout the film. Ray is a bit more careless, but as he's much younger, reckless and a bit suicidal, this is in character for him (and he never points a gun at anyone he doesn't want to kill, though his occasional poor aim when he does want to kill someone tends to get him in trouble.) At one point a man tries to rob Ray with a gun loaded with blanks — Ray wrestles the gun off him and fires into the man's face at point-blank range. The blanks leave him permanently blind in one eye.
211	* RecurringCameraShot: The repeated scene of [[spoiler: a child/dwarf being head-shot via OneHitPolykill.]] In both cases, the shooters see that they accidentally killed someone. In the flashback, the priest's last words after getting shot by Ray are "The boy" as he falls over. At the end after getting shot repeatedly, Ray says the same thing before falling over.
212	* RedemptionEqualsDeath: Maybe. [[spoiler: This depends on whether Ray survives, which is left deliberately ambiguous.]]
213	* RevolversAreJustBetter: Averted. Ray laments that his revolver is "a bloody girl's gun" when Ken shows him his own automatic.
214	* RuleOfSymbolism:
215	** The last scene where Ray stumbles on to the set and he sees all the costumes: the imagery is akin to the paintings of the last judgement; the animal heads, animal skulls, peasant looking people. Plus the dwarf dressed as a schoolboy represents his sin right before he is shot (his judgement). However, he attempts to save Harry by telling him that the dwarf is not a child despite the fact that Harry tried to kill him, thus redeeming himself, so he lives.
216	** Ray notes that waiting in Bruges may be hell for him, however it was more than likely Ken's idea of Heaven. The waiting in Bruges before his judgement may represent purgatory.
217	* SarcasticConfession: Ray confessing to MyGreatestFailure on a first date, and Chloe admitting to her profession in response, both laughing it off as a big joke.
218	* SayMyNameTrailer: "Bruges." "Bruges." "Bruges." "Bruges." "Where is that?" "It's in Belgium."
219	* SceneryDissonance: Type 1. The beauty of the titular city is a plot point. [[spoiler:Almost all the main characters die, some of them very gorily.]]
220	* SceneryPorn: The film has lots of shots showcasing the beauty of Bruges.
221	* SeinfeldianConversation: Lots of 'em, mostly pertaining to fuckin' Bruges.
222	* ShadowDiscretionShot: When Harry is beating the tower guard for [[DisproportionateRetribution poking him in the forehead repeatedly.]]
223	* ShoutOut:
224	** A very obscure one. Ken and Ray check into their hotel using the names 'Cranham' and 'Blakely'. In 1985, Creator/TheBBC broadcast a TV version of Creator/HaroldPinter's play ''The Dumb Waiter'', a two-hander about two hitmen sitting around in a room awaiting instructions. The hitmen in the BBC version were played by actors Kenneth Cranham and Colin Blakely.
225	** Not to mention the entire Bosch's paintings subplot.
226	** The film that the dwarf is taking part in is directly stated to be a pretentious ripoff of ''Film/DontLookNow''.
227	*** And there's more to it: in both ''Don't Look Now'' and ''In Bruges'' [[spoiler:mistaking a dwarf for a child]] leads to literally lethal consequences.
228	** Ken is watching ''Film/TouchOfEvil'' in his hotel when Harry calls, the rest of the scene is done in a single six-minute take.
229	* SirSwearsALot: Harry. Ray even lampshades this when reading his letter.
230	* SnowMeansDeath: It starts snowing during the climax during which the body count goes up from 1 to 4.
231	* StraightGay: Ken, at least according to Ray. If so, Ken certainly shows none of the stereotypical mannerisms, quite the opposite.
232	* StimulantSpeedtalk:
233	** After stealing from Chloe's drug cache, Ray shows up at a bar high on some of the purloined coke, talking at roughly a thousand miles an hour and warning Ken that he might be about to have a heart attack.
234	** Not long after this scene, a snorting session with dwarf actor Jimmy turns sour as a coked-up Jimmy starts rambling on about his belief in an upcoming race war. Ray is still high as a kite, so he naturally proceeds to nitpick the living bejesus out of the idea, much to Jimmy's annoyance.
235	* StrangeMindsThinkAlike: The repeating motifs make for a lot of this between the main characters.
236	** For instance, in the scene where Harry gets his gun from Yuri, his lines about not intending to "shoot twenty black ten-year-olds in a fucking drive-by" and wanting "a normal gun for a normal person" are reminiscent of Ray taunting the skinhead about "beating up Pakistani twelve-year-olds" and, earlier, having "a normal beer, because I am normal." Both independently come to the conclusion that Eirik is a "poof".
237	** Ray and Ken, concerning the fat Americans about to view the Belfry of Bruges.
238	* SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome:
239	** The blanks-in-the-face scene. What many people tend to ignore is that blanks can be downright ''lethal'' if the calibre is big enough, or if fired into a sensible part of the head. Eirik should be glad he's still alive.
240	** Murdering somebody, especially if it is your first time doing so, is not particularly easy, can get very messy, and rarely goes according to plan. [[spoiler: And sometimes collateral damage can't be helped...]]
241	** Guns aren't invincible death-dealing instruments of destruction, they're machines and they can break very easily. After [[spoiler: Ken ''jumps from the top of a building'' holding it onto hard cobblestone ground]], it's been completely smashed to pieces.
242	* TemptingFate: Ray thinking that Harry's out of range with his pistol.
243	* ThatMakesMeFeelAngry: Ken looks out across Bruges and say to himself "I like it here." Actually kind of a sweet moment, with Ken visibly excited about how much he likes it that he feels the need to say it out loud.
244	* TitleDrop: Sort of. The sentence "In Bruges?" actually occurs once, with all other mentions being some variation of "In ''fucking'' Bruges?!"
245	* TooDumbToLive: In Harry's opinion, Erik, the man who tried to mug Ray with a gun full of blanks. See TheReasonYouSuckSpeech for details.
246	* TwistedChristmas: Marie mentions early on that Christmas is nigh. Fittingly, it's in the context of there being no room at the inn (which pisses Ray off because it means he must share one with Kenn).
247	* UglyAmericanStereotype: The beautiful Belgian city is visited by many tourists, but Ray is hostile to Americans in particular. He offends a family of them when he calls them fat. When another tourist annoys him he strikes the man, blaming Americans for the Vietnam War and the death of John Lennon. He later regrets this mistake: [[spoiler:the man is Canadian]].
248	* VillainProtagonist: Ray, Ken and Harry themselves. They are, after all, hitmen and a mob boss, respectively.
249	* TheVoice: Subverted. At first, every scene of the movie takes place in Bruges, and Harry (who's in London) only interacts Ken and Ray via the telephone, so it seems like this trope applies to him. Then, about two thirds into the movie, Ken is speaking on the phone with Harry, and all of a sudden the film cuts to his London apartment, and we see that Harry is Creator/RalphFiennes, so it's easy to guess he'll play a larger role for the rest of the movie.
250	* WallOfWeapons: Yuri the arms dealer has guns all over every wall of his establishment.
251	* WickedCultured: Veteran hitman Ken has a deep understanding and appreciation of medieval architecture and art, and spends most of his free time enjoying the historical sights of Bruges.
252	* WithAllDueRespect: Ken gives Harry this, paired with a SincerityMode statement, before leaping into a CountryMatters ClusterFBomb.
253	* WorldLimitedToThePlot: Bruges. We get a brief glimpse of Harry's domestic life, a flashback to Ray's fuckup at the church, and a train escape sequence that never goes anywhere -- Ray is led right back to Bruges.
254	* WouldHitAGirl: When Ray punches the Canadian woman, though he's put on the defensive about it later and insists that it was self defense. [[{{Foreshadowing}} She did try to swing a bottle into his face]].
255	* WouldntHitAGirl: Harry won't push past the pregnant hotel owner to get up the stairs at Ray. This might be due to his WouldntHurtAChild rule, though.
256	* WouldntHurtAChild: Harry is very protective of children, possibly due to having several of his own. This becomes a major plot point.
257	** Ray seems to share this philosophy. [[spoiler: Which is why the fact he accidentally blew one away in a botched hit right before coming to Bruges has almost completely shattered him as a person.]]
258	* YouAreFat: Ray tells this to a pair of obese American tourists in a very obnoxious and insulting way to dissuade them from going up a narrow bell tower and potentially getting stuck. A few moments later, Ken gives them the same warning, only earnestly, except they've already been fed up by Ray's insults.
259	--> '''Ken:''' Hey! You shouldn't go up there, it's really narrow!
260	--> '''American Tourist:''' [[SuddenlyShouting SCREW YOU, COCKSUCKER]]!
261	* YourHeadASplode: The dum-dum bullets are said to do this. Hence Harry taking a whole box of them. [[spoiler:This actually leads to his suicide as one of his bullets blows up the midget Jimmy's head, leading Harry to think he had killed a child.]]

Context Film / InBruges