In Bruges - Assessment

"How does 'In Bruges' use Mise-En-Scene to reflect and develop the characters of Ray, Ken and Harry? How does the performance style of Colin Farrell (Ray) , Brendan Gleeson (Ken) and Ralph Fiennes (Harry) also reflect and develop character?"

The Mise En Scene of the film is used in this case as a strong character development device as it seems to be used to reflect the nature of the characters (especially Ray and Ken) and how they truly feel about the situation that they are in.

An example of how the Mise En Scene reflects the characters is the way that the Old Town of Bruges, where the majority of the film is set, is often referred to during the movie as being a “fairytale town” and could be a reflection of the persona that the characters have created for themselves as being tough, hardened hitmen when throughout the movie it is revealed that even though they kill people for money, it doesn’t mean that they don’t feel guilt or have morals that they like to pertain to; especially Harry who even though throughout the film he is shown to be the strict, serious, and a powerful figure that Ralph Fiennes plays excellently, with a powerful and almost chilling stature that causes the audience to immediately be aware that he is the antagonist of the film and this can also be seen in his other movies as he played Lord Voldemort in the Harry Potter franchise which could have been the reason that he was cast for the part as Harry.

The costumes are also strongly used to reflect their characters for example Ray, who is seen to be inexperienced and less serious about the job, spends most of the movie wearing quite floral, and more vibrant dress shirts underneath a suit jacket which would make a hitman stand out and be noticeable as opposed to Harry and Ken who tend to wear darker clothes to seem inconspicuous and less noticeable as they realise that it may make them more identifiable.

The acting style that Colin Farrell uses to portray Ray is reminiscent of the tragedy genre as he is trying to bury his emotions and keep himself calm whilst the narrative reveals that he has killed a child; this behaviour can be seen through the Colin Farrell's use of expression and body language when he tells the 'jokes' that are actually true stories about his life for example when he's in the restaurant with Chloe and tells her that he kills people for money to which she laughs, asking who he kills and he responds "Priests, children, you know... the usual." and you can tell by his body language that he is extremely nervous and you see that he is trying to forget, or at least come to terms with, what he's done; this also makes the acting style naturalistic as the audience is supposed to believe him and feel empathy for him; another point is that the part of Ray was supposed to be English but due to Colin Farrell's portrayal and also due to Brendan Gleeson's performance, they changed the narrative to make Ray and Ken Irish.

The acting style that Brendan Gleeson uses to portray Ken seems quite patriarchal towards Ray, in that you can tell that in some form he cares about Ray even going as far to sacrifice his life for Ray to have the chance of a better life and you can see this care especially through Brendan Gleeson's voice when he says to Ray "Then save the next little boy. Just go away somewhere, get out of this business, and try to do something good." and you can tell by his facial expression that he truly wants Ray to leave because he knows that he can contribute to something better because he can turn the pain he feels into a sort of passion to help.

The use of Mise En Scene is also used to foreshadow the events that happen about half way into the movie as it shows the ancient, grey buildings early on whilst music from the early romantic period such as Der Leiermann from Franz Schubert's song cycle Winterreise (Literally meaning Winter Journey) which is appropriate for the scene as it is about a man playing music in the streets but no-one is giving him any money or taking notice of him and he wants to give up because even dogs are growling at him but he just carries on playing; this could have been an intentional choice as it is quite reminiscent of Ray  and this piece is played throughout the movie and sets quite a depressive tone for the film which helps the audience to emphasise with and allows Colin Farrell to utilise this and further develop Ray through his almost tragic portrayal.

Mise En Scene is also used to in Harry's house to reflect his character, for example his house seems quite minimalist and smart with more neutral colours; the reason for making it quite minimalist and smart could be to reflect the amount of professionalism that Harry has whilst also implying his superiority over Ray and Ken based on the style of his house but also because he has the ability to send Ken and Ray to a different country and at a moments notice can himself fly to another country without any sort of hassle.

In conclusion I feel that Mise En Scene has been used extremely well in showing a clear reflection of the true characters and also in allowing the actors to adjust to the role and use their own performance styles to develop the character, helping them seem more believable whilst also giving the audience a sense of empathy and familiarity.