Postcards
I love the movie, In Bruges. It has such a black humour which I know some people do not ‘get’, resulting in them believing that such a film would put people off visiting Brugge. Well, they were wrong! I came for a conference, but it was the movie that made me choose this one above a number of others in Europe around the same time. For me, the laugh out loud, inappropriate, and quite silly (if a little violent) story was great and the fact that the protagonists, Ken and Ray were behaving like tourists (with all the good and bad elements) gave the place an even greater appeal.
So, the first thing I saw when I visited Brugge last month was the Belfry and ‘spot’ where Ken (Brendan Gleeson) from the movie In Bruges splattered… And my first thought was ‘f..ing’ Bruges! Even though I was on my own, I still felt a shared joke with many of the strangers in the Square – I’m sure some were thinking the same thing. The second thing I then saw was the bridge over the canal that seemed to feature as the ONLY bridge (even though there are many).I knew it was the one because, well.. I just DID …
When climbing the Belfry the next day, I had to agree with the boys that this was not for large Americans… JIn fact the stairs were so narrow it was quite a struggle for everyone at the top. So, the narrow stairway became my personal favourite image, not the views …
Each day it was great fun to pass so many of the sites from the movie, which I found really funny – it added another dimension to this beautiful city and helped me to feel more ‘at home’ and familiar with it. I felt like I shared a private, insider’s perspective.
While there was a movie map, website and even my own ‘Location Scout’ ap that I could have used to locate all the sites from the movie, I was happier to discover them myself, and it also meant that there were many places that ‘could’ have been in the movie, even if they weren’t which added to my enjoyment.
