Soundtrack Review: In Bruges by Carter Burwell (2008)

This is a review of the motion picture score for In Bruges by Carter Burwell.

Carter Burwell, also known as the one who composes all those Coen Brother movies. He has had a very diverse career so far from the loud A Knight’s Tale to the minimalistic No Country for Old Men. In Bruges is his latest project and this time we get a proper release from Lakeshore Records. The movie has been well received and perhaps a little glitter will fall upon Carter Burwell this time. Here is the track list for In Bruges:

1. Prologue
2. Medieval Waters
3. The Little Dead Boy
4. St. John The Gambler (by Townes Van Zandt)
5. The Last Judgement
6. View From The Tower
7. My Suicide Your Homicide
8. Brandy Alexander (by The Walkmen)
9. Save The Next Boy
10. Ray At The Mirror
11. Walking Bruges
12. The Magic Frog
13. Schubert: 24.Der Leiermann (by Andreas Schmidt)
14. Harry Walks
15. Dressing For Death
16. The Kiss Walk Past
17. On Raglan Road (by The Dubliners)
18. Thugs Passing In The Night
19. Shootout Part 1
20. When He’s Dead
21. Shootout Part 2
22. Principles
23. I Didn’t Want To Die
24. 2000 Miles (by Pretenders)

19 of those tracks are by Carter Burwell and total play time is 43:38 (26:39 of Carter Burwell). It’s not as long as one would hope, but is it good or even great? Carter Burwell continues in the same minimalistic style as No Country for Old Men with mostly light piano and string themes. The cues themselves are quite short and maybe the scenes demanded it. There is a definite shortage of memorable themes here, but some movies don’t need themes, just music that fits it perfectly. In that way, Carter Burwell has won because each and every track seems like they belong. I would also like to mention the cue “Shootout Part 1″ because Carter leaves the minimalistic sound of this score for a little while and goes off the rails with heavy guitars and percussion. It’s a fun little track that adds something extra to this score.

In the cues “Prologue” and “Walking Bruges” you can clearly here the main theme of the movie. It sounds strangely familiar though, like I’ve heard it in some other movie I can’t remember. The main theme is nice and light in certain cues, but in “Dressing for Death” it sounds heavier and a bit sad. Kudos to Carter Burwell for recognizing that and creating a theme that fits the humorous, light side of In Bruges as well as the darker side of the movie and life. All in all I have to say that Carter Burwell has created a good score that I think will only get better the more you listen to it. I haven’t mentioned the 5 other tracks on this album which only adds to the experience. Listen to In Bruges Below:

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