‘Reservoir Dogs’ Dir. Quentin Tarantino, (1992)

Film Review Storytelling & Commission

Reservoir Dogs Director: Quentin Tarantino

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‘Reservoir Dogs’ marked the directional debut of renowned Hollywood director Quentin Tarantino. Produced in 1992, ‘Reservoir Dogs’ fits within the American crime genre, and depicts a non-linear storyline illustrating events both before and after an unsuccessful diamond heist. Along with an all-star cast, featuring the likes of Harvey Keitel, and Tim Roth, Tarantino incorporates many themes such as his profuse profanity, violent crime, and his pop cultural references, which have now developed to be his reoccurring trademarks. The unseen, unique style ‘Reservoir Dogs’ depicted during release, arguably lead to the film becoming a classic independent production and a cult hit. ‘Reservoir Dogs’ is successful in various ways but perhaps accomplishes most with-in its storytelling. Based on Tarantino’s innovative dialogue, the consistency of conversation and the unique camera direction pinpoint the strongest elements which allow the depiction of his non-linear style. The way the dialogue is edited and scripted provide audiences with a continuous feel of discussion which compliments his non-linear choice in storytelling. Critic Larsen sums ‘Reservoir Dogs’ up as; “An action movie comprised almost entirely of words.” (Larsen, 2010)

With an agreeable opinion, Larsen’s statement reflects the unique filmmaking that made Tarantino’s debut film such a success. Being a film which had an expectation to be a gritty action movie instead turns expectation upside down providing a cleverly scripted picture that could easily function as a play having a fine balance of tension and humour. Although the dialogue is entertaining to hear, the types of reoccurring conversation topics, such as the opening scene (Figure 3) are arguably aimed towards a male audience. However, without these dialogues present throughout, the

characters may not have been introduced to audiences as the fearless and macho men they are later made out to be.

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Tarantino’s handling of music and camera staging, juxtaposed with conversation, creates an individual experience which develops an atmosphere that allows the graphic nature of some shots to have more of an effect on audiences when they are not shown on screen. The most infamous scene which displays Tarantino’s convention as it is strongest is the torture scene which sees Mr Blonde dismembering Nash’s ear (Figure 4). The scene uses inventive filmmaking which has a great effect on audiences, especially due to the juxtaposition of sound and camera. Reviewer Jeff Dawson states that; “…proceedings are underscored magnificently by a golden oldie radio station pumping out a series of bubblegum hits from the 70s” (Dawson, 2006) The contrast of diegetic sound with the non-diegetic enhance the scene as a whole, and paradoxically the upbeat and lively soundtrack surprisingly adds a sense of sadistic joy to the torture of Nash where it is near impossible not to move a part of the body to the catchy beat of Stealers Wheel. It is noticeable that diegetic sounds are used to break up the moments of apprehension before the dismembering, and the effect of having the music die down when exiting the building only strengthens the scene as its developing making audiences almost have the sense of enjoyment Blonde is experiencing. The camerawork is also magnificent during this scene, more specifically the cut away to ironic warning above the mid-shot door stating ‘watch your head’ strategically leaves audiences imagining the inhumane actions Blonde is taking with his straight-razor.

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Though ‘Reservoir Dogs’ is seen by many to be a straight up crime film, some people believe the film to be an animistic representation of men, and their primal fight to be the alpha male while amongst other men. This most noticeably evident with the tensions between Mr White and Mr Blonde, and the other conflicts in which present characters in their true hierarchy of power which is notably reflective by their use of their weapons. McCarthy suggests that the film; “…is about nothing other than a bunch of macho guys and how big their guns are.” (McCarthy, 2012)

His analysis is arguable since the film depicts a storyline that is character driven, portraying the narrative through relationships between characters and how they react to different situations, however the virility the different men possess is also something that plays a big part within Tarantino’s production. A prominent scene which examples the different representation of man is where characters are first being given their aliases (Figure 5). The male figures who are considered to be more masculine gain a more ‘sophisticated’ colour, whereas the characters that are seen to be less macho are granted neutral or more effeminate colours. A good contrast between colour and character is between Mr White and Mr Pink as White is seen overpowering Pink suggesting his dominancy over his partner. As the film progresses, Pink is seen to share more in common with female characteristics in comparison to the testosterone fuelled criminals he is working with. For example, Pink continuously attempts to avoid violence and settle disputes with conversation; however he is always seen to fail. The final standoff also suggests that Pink is the most effeminate character as he is seen hiding during conflict and later escapes using brain instead of brawn which is another attribute which is commonly considered feminine. ‘Reservoir Dogs’ is indefinitely the film that revealed Tarantino to be one of the up and coming successors of filmmaking, introducing a new genre of filmmaking that could possibly be the influence of many films today. Concluding, ‘Reservoir Dogs’ is a very successful directional debut from Tarantino, and even though the production is perhaps left unpolished, it is arguably his most successful work to date.

Review Bibliography References Larson, J (2012) available at; www.larsenonfilm.com; www.larsenonfilm.com/reservoir-dogs [accessed online on 17 February 2013]. Dawson, J (2006) available at; www.empireonline.com; www.empireonline.com/reviews/reviewcomplete.asp?DVDID=6455 [accessed online on 17 February 2013]. McCarthy, T (1992) available at; www.variety.com; www.variety.com/review/VE1117794411/?categoryid=31&cs=1 [accessed online on 17 February 2013]. Illustrations Figure 1: www.impawards.com/1992/posters/reservoir_dogs_ver1.jpg Figure 2: http://geektyrant.com/storage/2011-post-images/reservoir-dogs1.jpeg?__SQUARESPACE_CACHEVERSION=1331145291822 Figure 3: http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-vSMWF4y122s/T4zx61YHKUI/AAAAAAAAAEQ/1XMMLteO7nU/s1600/reservoir-dogs-1992-01-g.jpg Figure 4: http://ramp.ie/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/Reservoir-Dogs-Ear-Scene.jpg Figure 5: www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dpp5B5sXOpU [Screen Capture]