Swearing has a long and noble history in films. If we exclude silent movies the first use of swearing in cinema is usually attributed to Gone With The Wind, with a word that was once shocking and now barely registers as swearing. Certainly, some films use swearing poorly but when films get it right it can be wonderfully cathartic, or accurately represent a world where these words are used or just very very funny. Four Weddings and a Funeral has a startling opening scene consisting mainly of Hugh Grant and Charlotte Coleman saying the word “fuck” over and over again as they realise they’re late. Quentin Tarantino’s work is littered with swear words, however, the best use is perhaps not even in one of his films but in the soundtrack. Pulp Fiction starts with a scene in a diner with two people discussing their next holdup target, and whilst there is swearing in that scene it ends with a titanic storm of swearing from Hunny Bunny, whereas the soundtrack starts with that swearing storm, before moving into Misirlou.

“Jeez, he swears a lot, doesn’t he?” Ray, In Bruges

Martin McDonagh has done much in the services of swearing for movies but In Bruges stands out as probably the best. From Ralph Fiennes’s fuck-filled message left at a hotel to Brendan Gleeson going too far – and this is going too far in a gangster film where people are regularly getting shot and are soaked in swearing. It comes down to a conversation between Brendan Gleeson and Ralph Fiennes’ characters where Gleeson puts forward the statement that the only change Fiennes’ character is going to make is become “more of a cunt, and have more cunt-fucking kids”. Which is immediately retracted due to bringing someone’s children into their imminent gun battle which is just not on.

“So Just Use The Word M’Kay” Mr Mackey

Matt Stone and Trey Parker are known for swearing and just general controversial behaviour but of course, they have to go one further and put it into song. South Park, Bigger, Longer & Uncut features a number of songs with a tremendous amount of swearing – “It’s Easy M’kay”, “Kyle’s Mom Is a Bitch” and “Uncle Fucker”. Unsurprisingly their parents are not thrilled with all this swearing and perhaps overreact by starting a war with Canada. Not one to rest on their laurels in Team America: World Police they managed to sum up American foreign policy in the song “America, Fuck Yeah!” and the film is an ongoing onslaught of swearing, uncalled-for violence and puppet sex scenes.

“Do You Have To Use So Much Cursing?” The Stranger, The Big Lebowski

Some films have aggressive, insulting swearing; for some, it’s just how they talk. In The Big Lebowski the word “fuck” is used 260 times, but often just as a part of a sentence, not with anger or malice. When The Stranger questions the Dude’s use of swearing his simple response is “what the fuck are you talking about?” He just doesn’t understand. The Wolf of Wall Street has a truly ludicrous amount of swearing but again, much of it is not meant as an insult just simply part of their speech or odd rhetoric.

“Stay Classy, San Diego” Ron Burgundy, Anchorman

American movies have to comply with the MPAA and their idiosyncratic approach to censorship but this limiting factor can lead to great moments. To get a PG-13 rating in America, films can only have one use of the word fuck – used to devastating effect in Anchorman with Ron Burgundy’s news signoff of “Go fuck yourself, San Diego”. The fact that the use of swearing is so limited in the film does increase its impact on an audience likely familiar with Tarantino films, and we get a small sense of what such a sentence uttered on the news would have.

“Sorry I Know You Disapprove Of Swearing” – Malcolm Tucker, The Thick Of It

A minor note to perhaps the greatest example in television of swearing – The Thick Of It – said to have a swearing consultant who perhaps came up with this fantastic outburst “Feet off the furniture you Oxbridge twat, you’re not in a punt now.”. Then, of course, there is the Shakespearean very aggressive swearing of Succession such as “Fuck you, too, you pusillanimous piece of fucking fool’s gold. Fucking silver-spoon asshole.” And if Succession’s swearing is Shakespearean then Curb Your Enthusiasm’s is a riotous Noel Coward. One of its great scenes is the finale to Season 3 where to show solidarity with a person suffering from Tourette’s Syndrome Larry David leads a restaurant in a expanding chant of swearing culminating in “Fuck you, you car wash cunt”.

Also Read: The Tarantino Crossover That Never Happened – Django & Zorro

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Warning – McDonagh’s films are full of swearing and violence and, especially Three Billboards…, deal with very difficult subject matter. Also, some spoilers for each film are contained within the article.

In Bruges

For me, this is a contender for the greatest directorial debut of all time. Back in the long-long-ago, through the mists of time, Netflix used to actually deliver DVDs in the post. You couldn’t even pick which film you wanted but had to have a list of films and prioritise them – I fudged the list as much as I could to get this film as soon as possible. I watched it twice in two days, exceeding my already high expectations. The film is a story of two gangster hitmen sent to lie-low after a job went wrong, and bizarrely, sent to Bruges. Colin Farrell stars in a career-best performance as Ray who seemingly is the happy-go-lucky of the pair but is also weighed down with something terrible that is eventually revealed to be that during the last job he accidentally shot and killed a child. The film is a superb black comedy but at its heart it’s a story of redemption – what is Ray to do with his life now? How can he make things right? Is that possible? Brendan Gleeson is the experienced gangster, Ken, sent along on the mission and now trapped with Ray in Bruges. Amazingly the third main character, Ralph Fiennes’ Harry doesn’t appear until half-way through the film. All three main actors are astounding, Ray and Ken making as an odd double-act, with Harry being an over-the-top mob boss (Harry screaming at his wife, “You’re an inanimate f*****g object” and promptly apologising, insisting she isn’t, is gold). In true film-snob style, I have to cite Bruges itself as a character in the film. McDonagh has said that Ray and Ken exemplified his perception of the city when he first arrived, he was Ken, he loved it’s medieval beauty but quickly became Ray – bored as there is very little to do aside from sightseeing.

Seven Psychopaths

Following up In Bruges was never going to be easy. Farrell remained as the central character (playing an Irish scriptwriter named Marty), Gleeson and Fiennes were gone but the cast now boasted Sam Rockwell, Christopher Walken and Woody Harrelson, so a fair trade. The plot revolves around Marty trying to write a script he’s called Seven Psychopaths but doesn’t want it to be a cliched action film, despite calling it Seven Psychopaths. Aided and hindered in scriptwriting by his friend Billy (played by Rockwell, a professional dog-kidnapper); things get out of hand when Billy kidnaps a gangster’s dog who vows revenge. There is a lot going on in this film – perhaps too much, as well as just the action-comedy of the battle with the gangster there is an analysis of filmmaking and discussions thinking about religion, revenge and the power of stories. One memorable scene has Marty, Billy and Hans (Christopher Walken) discussing possible endings for Marty’s film, and despite Marty insisting he doesn’t want a traditional gunfight ending that is what Billy suggests. Billy’s ending is an insane shootout involving exploding heads, hidden crossbows and the escape of a pet rabbit/death of Marty’s girlfriend (leading to perhaps the film’s most memorable line “You can’t let the animals die in a movie… only the women”).

Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri

There have been criticisms that McDonagh’s films focus heavily on men, certainly, the women characters in his first two films are peripheral, I don’t know whether Three Billboards… is a response to that criticism but this film’s central character was Mildred, played by Frances McDormand. Whilst still a dark comedy the subject matter is far more serious than in previous films. Mildred is a woman in deep grief after the rape and murder of her teenage daughter; after the police have failed to solve the crime she rents three billboards, calling out the local police chief by name for his failure. The idea being that, as Mildred explains, a crime is more likely to be solved the longer it stays in the public consciousness.

A great film it also contains an unforgettable cinema-going experience for me – there is one hell of a punch to the gut as it reveals something Mildred said to her daughter before she was murdered where the cinema audience I was in gasped in shock and heartbreak or in some cases groaned in pain.

McDormand is brilliant and won a second Oscar for this performance and seems to have an almost unstoppable force of nature sense to her, she has no power, no money, no authority but she will make things happen. Harrelson is on great form as the weary police chief who seems genuinely heartbroken he has failed Mildred and her daughter and we also learn is dying of cancer. The fact that Mildred is well aware of both of these facts but pushes on regardless shows her determination. Perhaps the most complicated and controversial character is Dixon (played by Sam Rockwell), a deputy who sums up the worst of the American police force – brutally violent, racist and bullying anyone who stands up to him. Perhaps even worse the rest of the local force is well aware of Dixon’s problems but aren’t terribly bothered (and maybe are the same just better at hiding it) – Harrelson’s character even trots out the line that if they got rid of all of the racist cops, there would hardly be any cops. The reason Dixon’s character is so controversial is whether or not he has a redemptive arc and is that acceptable in a character who has done such terrible things. Personally I don’t think we’re meant to see Dixon as “redeemed”, I don’t think he’s meant to have changed and at best put aside his personal animosity for Mildred to try and achieve something important.

Not For Everyone…

McDonagh’s films are very dark comedies with even darker none comedic storylines going on underneath, and that’s difficult to get right, and certainly, these films aren’t going to be for everyone but have been some of my favourite films of recent years.

Also Read: The Anatomy of a Christopher Nolan Film

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