THIS IS AN EXCERPT OF MY REVIEW OF THIS FILM. TO READ THE ENTIRE REVIEW PLEASE GO TO http://www.nicksmovies.blogspot.com/
Have you ever been to Bruges? Well I haven't. When looking up a place to vacation, my family isn't looking at the brochure that says "Visit beautiful Belgium!" The city of Bruges is a medieval town with beautiful buildings and canals, but if you aren't held over by sightseeing, you probably won't want to go there. They don't even have a bowling alley. Being so obscure and unknown to most, it turns out to be the perfect place to, I don't know, hide out a couple of hit men who messed up their last job? That's exactly what Harry Waters (Ralph Fiennes) decided to do. After an unnecessary victim was claimed on their latest hit, Ray and Ken (Colin Farrell and Brendan Gleeson) are ordered by Harry to hole up in the little known city of Bruges in Belgium. While Ken has no trouble enjoying the gorgeous scenery, Ray hates everything about the city as he frequently expresses in rather vulgar terms. It could be that Ray is just upset because it was he who made the mistake on the job, and the guilt is destroying him on the inside. Not even a date with beautiful Belgian girl Chloe (Clemence Poesy) or a comically racist dwarf (Jordan Prentice) could cheer him up. After a few days in Bruges, Ken receives a phone call from Harry, and we discover that the reason the two men were stationed in the secret city is not as simple as it seemed.
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13 years ago
Perhaps my comment here will be instructive in that one should never assume anything about one's readership. The fact is that I have not only "heard of" Bruges, but I have also spent a most delightful week there. It is a mandatory stop for any lover of Flemish art, and medieval history in general. My personal favorite work of art in Bruges is the Canon Van Der Peale, by Van Eyck, see here...
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but, Memling's St John tryptich is also sublime. Bruges was a vibrant medieval city that went into dramatic decline becuase of the silting up of the Scheldte river, and it is a time capsule, of sorts as a result. Anyway, I highly recommend Belgium. Antwerp, Ghent, Brussels, all marvelous.
To add insult to injury, the Tech European trip visited Bruges in the summer of 2008, though they foolishly missed seeing both works of art I mentioned above. Hard to believe one would go all the way to Bruges and not see the CAnon Van Der Peale.
I was actually looking to change that first paragraph when I reread it a few days after I posted it. It slipped my mind I guess. Thank you for reminding me.
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