I want to write and publish this post to get some things off my chest, to have said it and then leave it alone.
In all honesty these things need to be said, and they are being said by different individuals out there, but I felt that since this is the In Bruges Fansite it deserved a spot on here, too. This site is for people who enjoyed In Bruges, and it doesn't publish negative opinions on the film, the crew or the cast. But in my eyes, Focus Features/Universal has nothing to do with all that. They had a job of marketing and supporting this film after they chose to invest in it, and they failed royally. I think this needs to be said for those who supported In Bruges and felt left out during the releasing process, it needs to be said for those who are hoping for big awards, and it needs to be said most of all for those artistically involved in making In Bruges, though they are surely aware of what happened. It isn't my place, nor is it the end of the world, but it sure is a shame. I will continually show by linking that these opinions are shared and founded.
Quote from the Martin McDonagh forum on IMDb:
"Small compensation for being dumped on by Focus. Otherwise it would have had a bigger audience and serious Oscar chances. Bastards."
Throughout the process of releasing and promoting, it has become quite clear that Focus wasn't going to invest much in In Bruges anymore than they already did by granting the filmmaking budget. First the film was released in the dead moment of the film industry [source] - too late for the 2008 award season, too early for the 2009 award season. Focus Features had no reason to do this, since the editing was long done and they knew Martin McDonagh's cinematic work had previously won him an Oscar. They simply didn't care about the reception of the film.
UNITED STATES RELEASE
Consequently, they gave the US the prime release, way ahead of any of the countries involved in the producing and making of the film - way ahead of the European audience, which you'd think would receive the film more enthusiastically. In Bruges successfully opened the 2008 Sundance Film Festival, where it was received with praise from audiences and critics - it was a promising pre-screening to the US release, but nonetheless when In Bruges was released in America on 8 February 2008, it opened in only 28 theatres. Let me repeat that. Twenty-eight theatres across the United States. There's more states than theatres where it played. The maximum amount of US theatres it played in was 232, which is an extremely low number.Now here's the catch - subsequently they barely marketed In Bruges in the States. You have an Oscar winning director, Colin Farrell whose name everyone knows, Brendan Gleeson who has been in a large number of big films, Ralph Fiennes who is a respected actor with two previous Academy Award nominations, a highly successful Sundance opening screening... and all you market is put up the posters here and there? The trailer wasn't distributed as widely as it could have, and the only other promotional activity was a contest on Facebook of which the winners never received their prizes after being set up to promote In Bruges to win something. Plenty of US theatre-goers were actually awaiting to see In Bruges; because they loved Martin McDonagh's work, because they were simply cinematic fanatics, because they were Colin Farrell or Ralph Fiennes or Brendan Gleeson fans - and many of these fans never had the chance to see In Bruges in the theatre because they would have to drive to the theatre for over five hours.
In these circumstances, In Bruges made a "mere" $8million in the United States. This could have been at the very least doubled.
EUROPEAN RELEASE
After watching the States go first, European fans and audiences were still to wait on confirmation of their release dates. After Focus Features changed the release date for many European countries more than twice, the final release dates were established, and it became clear that there would be no European premiere besides the Dublin Film Festival. Which is rediculous, because if In Bruges were to make the largest profits anywhere, it would be in Europe, and Europe really is bigger than Ireland. Nonetheless Sundance, the New York premiere and the Dublin Film Festival were the only promotional events that ever took place.
There had been talk about a premiere in Bruges, and I've had my reasons to believe that the cast and director were all very willing to go along with this plan. This premiere in Bruges was supposed to take place in March 2008. When Focus Features finally confirmed all the release dates, it turned out that Belgium was the last country on the release list, having to wait for the end of June after everyone else had already gotten a release. Universal Pictures stated to me personally, that the reason for this was "scheduling conflict" where there was no room in the theatres to release In Bruges earlier. I suppose March-June 2008 had been booked full since April 2007?
All the Brugians I have spoken to since the filming have been highly amused by In Bruges, and I've not spoken to a single Belgian who was insulted by the jokes in the film. I have spoken to Brugians who were insulted by being passed like that by Focus Features, after they'd happily accomodated the filming. Yes, the mayor may have been primarily concerned with advertising Bruges in the cinemas, but the people who lived in Bruges were there when everything was filmed and felt involved and then spit out. That's just the way it is, sorry.
The European releases thus went by without premieres, and without any promotion. As an active cinema goer I never once saw a trailer to announce In Bruges' upcoming release, I never saw any promotion for it anywhere else. There were posters up in London for a while, there were also posters around the cinemas where In Bruges would play in other European countries, but it never went beyond a few posters.
OTHER RELEASES
In Bruges made its highest profit outside the US, which isn't difficult when you only play it in 232 US cinemas, and consider that the rest of the world alltogether is bigger than the US. New Zealand saw the release of In Bruges about a month ago, and there it has made the decent profit of $273,312, only slightly less than The Netherlands.
AWARD SEASON
I have black on white statements that there is no Oscar campaigning [source] for In Bruges (dispite its Golden Globe nominations), and that the members of the Screen Actors Guild (SAG Awards) who picked the nominees were sent every single film except In Bruges and The Duchess. I am thereby lead to believe that Focus never intended to give In Bruges any award-season-push ("For Your Consideration"), and in fact In Bruges' involvement in the award season was purely initiated by the fact that British Independent Film Awards included it.
Award season has a pulse, and a big part of this pulse is campaigning. In Bruges beats on, on the sole strength of some people acknowledging its quality on their own, with zero campaigning. I agree with above quote from IMDb, stating that this film could have had serious Oscar chances. I sadly doubt that it will go beyond a Screenwriting nomination, which is good, but it could have all been so much better.
THE PRODUCTION ITSELF
I'd very much like to point towards the people who were involved in making In Bruges, as well. They have their opinions on Focus' way of handling some situations, too.
Carter Burwell is the composer responsible for the (brilliant) score/soundtrack of In Bruges. On his site he notes some curious facts about how Focus Features handled the In Bruges project. Read it first hand [here].
"An odd logistical wrinkle was the insistence by Focus Features, who were paying for the film, that they hear synth sketches of all the music before we record it. I'd never heard such a request before. Focus is the "boutique" division of Universal Studios, and they've made some claims in the past of protecting the filmmaker's vision, but in this case they apparently felt more protective of other things. I was bemused but didn't object to sending my sketches to Focus.
(...)
In the end Focus had only two notes that made it to me. One was that the opening cue be recorded as it had been originally written, dispensing with a darkening of tone that Martin had wanted. The other was that the last music in the picture, occuring after all the main characters are dead or dying, be more, shall we say, "optimistic". After due consideration Martin and I dismissed this as absurd."
CONCLUSION
Overall this essay has been completely useless, as it won't change the past or change anything for the future. I've felt that Focus Features has shown their "support" for their own investment in very strange ways, and surely once I've married and killed a rich man I will buy the company and change it all for the better - oh happily ever after. But I thought it'd all be important to note, in case anyone ever wondered why things went the way they went. I'm happy "In Bruges" was taken on, and the $15million budget is a nice gesture - but it's just strange to first find them so generous and then so enstranged from both their investment and its audience.
Florida Film Critics Circle - WINNERS
Awarded Martin McDonagh with the Breakout Award as writer/director of In Bruges.
London Critics' Circle Film Awards - NOMINATIONS
Nominated In Bruges for Best British Film Of The Year, Martin McDonagh for Screenwriter Of The Year, and Martin McDonagh for Breakthrough British Film-Maker. (Ralph Fiennes was nominated for British Actor Of The Year for The Duchess, by the way). Winners will be announced 4 February 2009!
Boston Society Of Film Critics - WINNERS
In Bruges was nominated for Original Screenplay and New Filmmaker - Martin McDonagh won the Best New Filmmaker award! Congratulations Martin!
* * * * *
Winning Colour
Nominated Colour
...chose In Bruges as one of the ten best films of 2008. That's right, not "best independent films", but best films. In Bruges is on the list alongside Wall-E, Slumdog Millionaire, The Dark Knight and The Reader. They also chose In Bruges for Best Screenplay and Best Overlooked Film. I'd like to add that I was there (Phoenix, Arizona) this summer and Arizona rocks. Best state ever. So that was my random comment for today.
...have nominated Martin McDonagh for Best Newcomer with In Bruges (well, technically, they nominated "Martin McDonough" for In Bruges...)
* * * * * *
San Diego, St. Louis, San Francisco and Austin seemed to have missed In Bruges. But no matter, they can't help it that Arizona is so much cooler (sorry if this is offensive to anyone, you know I'm joking... right?). I've only been to San Diego and I can honestly say they were probably distracted by Shamu - which is understanding; I'd be!
* * * * * *
Winning Colour
Nominated Colour
Source: AwardsDaily
According to "semi-professional" Oscar spotters these critics' awards are irrelevant. I can't completely dismiss their words, because they have done this before - but we have to remember that they are doing this all with their eye on the Oscars, which is why they continue to ignore In Bruges. For the In Bruges Fansite, however, all praise is welcome. Acknowledgement is acknowledgement. I'm talking Brendan Gleeson who's made more great films than he's been acknowledged for, Colin Farrell finally being taken seriously as an actor, Ralph Fiennes' chance at finally winning something significant rather than only being nominated, and last but not least praise for Martin McDonagh as a filmmaker which will make it easier for him to make a next film perhaps. These guys deserve every nod they get.
The Chicago Film Critics have announced their nominees, and have nominated Martin McDonagh for "Most Promising Filmmaker" and "Best Original Screenplay". Winners will be announced 18 December 2008.
The New York Film Critics Online have already chosen their winners, and Martin McDonagh won Best Debut As Director. Congratulations, Martin!
Source: Boston Society of Film Critics Awards 2008
Congratulations Martin McDonagh
(again, and I will keep repeating it out of sheer joy, every single win)
The BSFC Award for "Best New Filmmaker" goes to Martin McDonagh for In Bruges. Woot!
Source: The Associated Press
`In Bruges' emerges as unlikely Globes contender
Though "In Bruges" was released in February — an eternity away from the fall premieres of most awards-seeking films — the Colin Farrell film emerged as an unlikely contender at the Golden Globes.
"In Bruges" scored three nominations from the Globes on Thursday, including best picture for a musical or comedy and dueling best actor in a musical or comedy nominations for Farrell and his co-star Brendan Gleeson — a first for each.
Written and directed by playwright Martin McDonagh, the film received good but mixed reviews, and grossed less than $8 million at the U.S. box office. In it, Farrell and Gleeson play hit men laid up in the picturesque and quaint town of Bruges, Belgium.
Speaking by phone Thursday from London, Gleeson — recognized by many as Alastor "Mad-Eye" Moody from the "Harry Potter" films — said he was surprised at his nomination and the attention to "In Bruges."
"It's a matter of total mystery to me how all of this happens," said Gleeson. "But it's absolutely fantastic that the film has a life and people are able to access it now. That it's getting a little bit of recognition is wonderful."
The movie's Golden Globe success may have been partially indebted to its Anglo-Irish production and Belgian setting. The Globes nominees are selected through the slightly European perspective of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association.
"In Bruges" also fared well with the British Independent Awards, where it was nominated for six awards and won for best screenplay.
Though Globes success can often spell good things for a film's Oscar prospects, that's unlikely in this case: Unlike the Academy Awards, the Globes split films between dramas and comedies, giving comedies more attention.
It's debatable how much of a comedy "In Bruges" is — it's at least as dramatic as it is comedic. But Gleeson, chuckling, makes one thing clear: "It's not a musical!"
You're damn right it's not a musical :-P but it's not a mystery how this happened, Brendan. It's because it's damn good that this happened, that's why, isn't that obvious :-P?
Source: LA Times
Read full article by clicking the link above. Here are the highlights.
"I didn't see it coming! Not even as a dark horse," Farrell said Thursday, speaking from the deck of his Los Angeles home. "I was really surprised. The fact that it showed so early in the year and had such a lukewarm reaction financially -- it didn't get seen by that many people -- it's a testament to [director Martin McDonagh] and to good filmmaking that the film seemed to strike a chord with the voters."
[...]
Producer Graham Broadbent didn't seem quite as floored by the nominations as Farrell but expressed a level of pleasant shock at the announcement."I was genuinely surprised," Broadbent said. "The weird thing about the film was, in the U.K. -- I suppose in the U.S. too -- it seems like a lot of people in the industry had seen and would always refer back to it. I was very surprised but also happy to see it recognized."
Source: The Envelope - LA Times
McDonagh, the acclaimed Irish playwright responsible for "The Pillow Man" and "The Lieutenant of Inishmore," made his feature debut with "In Bruges." In a statement issued from New York, where he is mounting a new production, McDonagh said he felt "glad that our strange little comedy of mayhem and redemption has been recognized for the superlative performances of Colin and Brendan."
Source: Reactions from Golden Globe Nominees
Colin Farrell says :
"I've gotten worse calls in the wee hours of the morning. A lovely surprise at 5:45am. An unexpected guest, yet a welcome one. I'm so happy for Brendan Gleeson as well as the film. I am so glad the film got nominated. This is Martin [McDonagh]'s nomination, because he was and is this film. It was his brilliance that truly brought it to life. All in all, as from the start, I'm really proud to be part of this story and just so pleasantly surprised that The Hollywood Foreign Press carried it with them from March to now. Be nice for it to get a second innings, for some people maybe to find it for the first time."
The In Bruges Fansite would like to officially congratulate Martin McDonagh, Colin Farrell, Brendan Gleeson and Ralph Fiennes on their Golden Globe nominations, Mr. Fiennes being nominated for The Duchess and Bernard & Doris, both very fine projects as well - especially Bernard & Doris holds a special place in my heart.
I don't think any of them have ever layed eyes on this fansite, and they damn well better not have, because I prefer thinking I'm talking to myself which is my natural state of being :-P
But if at any point they do read this; we're so proud of you. You deserve this so much, and the cliche damn right is true; being nominated is already winning. A lot of films got released this year, and you were one of the first, and as Colin said it stuck - and well deserved. You've already beaten all of them with just that. You deserve this recognition so much. So many people enjoyed seing In Bruges being made (thank you for that), so many people enjoyed watching In Bruges, and it's been an honour and pleasure making this fansite. You guys are AWESOME! - as they would say in the States.
We're hoping for a word from Martin McDonagh and Brendan Gleeson, but if not so be it. A word to the press, I mean, not to us. We wouldn't dare ;-)!
Sorry about the language (not that In Bruges fans would be sensitive to foul language), I swear on my life I never ever call people "bitches" but this one's for everyone out there (and there's a few here and there) who didn't believe In Bruges would take it beyond the BIFAs. You got served, bitches!
In Bruges is nominated for the Golden Globes! They have three nominations, as opposed to 2 for Happy-Go-Lucky, 2 for I've Loved You So Long, 2 for Wall-E, 1 for The Dark Knight, 1 for The Duchess, 1 for Milk and 1 for Rachel Getting Married. I'm not wallowing in the supremacy of my taste :-P I'm just celebrating.
Read the full list of nominees here.
In Bruges is nominated for:
- BEST COMEDY/MUSICAL
- BEST ACTOR: BRENDAN GLEESON
- BEST ACTOR: COLIN FARRELL
I'd just like to repeat that Colin Farrell is nominated for a Golden Globe. Can we please take him seriously as an actor now, please?
The reason for my 'bitches' attitude is basically the following; there are a lot of places on the net where award season is discussed. They list predictions, spend time on possible Oscar nominees, have discussions. There seemed to be quite a number of people who dismissed the SEVEN British Independent Film Award nominations and wrote In Bruges off. I'm not saying they're bitches, I'm saying "I TOLD YOU SO". It seems people this year are obsessed with The Dark Knight and Wall-E, and I'd just like to say:
I told you so
Because I like saying that.
