Intersections in real time (Reservoir Dogs (DVD))

Member Name: TJ-Mackey

Product:	Reservoir Dogs (DVD)
Date:	23/11/01 (164 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Splintered narrative, exciting director, good cast

Disadvantages: Limited character development

We're in a coffee shop. There's a bunch of guys sitting around this table, and they're arguing about the meaning of some pop song; I don't remember which one. No wait, yeah, it was Madonna's 'Like a Virgin'. So anyway, they're sitting there talkin' and they don't even know each other's names. Well, not all of 'em anyway. I suppose you could say this is where this story starts, or at least, this is where Tarantino wants it to start. Cue the music.

Next thing we know, Mr. Orange is screaming in the back seat with a bullet in his stomach, while Mr. White is trying to drive the blood-soaked car. To say the diamond heist was a f*ck-up is an understatement, but we don't know why, as we haven't seen it happen. And we won't see it either, because that'd be too easy.

In case you don't remember, Reservoir Dogs was released almost ten years ago and someone gets their ear cut off in it. To say the media over-reacted to that one scene would be stating the obvious, but perhaps if there wasn't such a big fuss over it, the film would never have received the kind of hype it has done. Typically, a movie that gets talked about because of its controversy isn't actually that good, but thankfully this one's an exception. And while it isn't quite the masterpiece its over-zealous fans claim it is, Reservoir Dogs is nevertheless an outstanding first feature.

Thanks to the financial support of Harvey Keitel, debutante writer/director Quentin Tarantino was able to cast a number of talented actors to fill the roles of a gang of professional criminals who have planned and carried out a bungled diamond robbery. Meeting afterwards at an abandoned warehouse, it isn't long before one of them smells a rat, but who, if anyone, is the snitch? With an inventive use of flashbacks, which intersect the real-time warehouse confrontation at the necessary moments, Tarantino deconstructs a compli
cated scenario with a coolness and assurance that defies his experience. Sure, it's rough around the edges, but that's also part of the film's allure.

There are three scenes in Reservoir Dogs that stand out, and highlight what a talented director Tarantino is.

Firstly, a casual, occasionally heated discussion on the value of tipping waitresses. This occurs in the first ten minutes of the film, and shows the kind of dialogue we can expect in the remainder (as well as in Tarantino's following movies). Having said that, this scene just wouldn't have worked without Steve Buscemi. He steals nearly every scene he appears in, just as he always does, and getting him in the film was one of the best moves Tarantino could have made.

Conversely, the second scene that stood out for me features no dialogue at all. Shortly after the aforementioned ear-cutting scene, we follow Mr. Blonde (Michael Madsen) as he walks slowly out to his car, opens the boot, takes out a petrol can, and walks calmly back to the warehouse. A steadicam follows him all the way, and the sense of foreboding as we realise what he's going to do is stunning. The gradual fading out and in of the song, 'Stuck in the Middle With You' as this whole sequence takes place is also inspired.

The third scene is one in which Mr. Orange (Tim Roth) recounts a moment of panic in a past drug deal, and the hilarious way it resolved itself. I'm certainly not going to spoil this one for you, but the exaggerated filming of the scene is quite brilliant, along with the superb handling of the dialogue by both Roth and Tarantino.

However, as good as Tim Roth and Steve Buscemi are, Harvey Keitel is the standout actor of the movie. Michael Madsen is also supremely frightening as the psychopathic Mr. Blonde, but what impresses the most is Keitel's ability to bring so much to a character who, like the others, is pretty underdeveloped. He's obviously
a criminal, and it's made quite clear early on that he won't back down to anyone, but there's also a protective aspect to him. Much like his character in 'Mean Streets' tries to shield the rash Johnny Boy from danger, here he looks out for the critically injured Mr. Orange, and won't abandon him to make it easier on himself.

As I said, the rest of the characters aren't particularly well developed, and we really know next to nothing about any of them. The emphasis in Reservoir Dogs is definitely on the style and energy of the story rather than characterisation, and it's this point that prevents me giving the film five stars. You definitely should see this movie though, even if you didn't particularly like 'Pulp Fiction'. And don't let the talk of violence put you off either - a lot of it is implied rather than shown, with the masterful pan away from the torture scene showing Tarantino has a real eye for film-making. A less talented director might well have gone for the shock-factor here, but the several-second hold on the opposite wall is far more disturbing than anything we would see in an alternative cut. This kind of camerawork is seen throughout the movie; allowing simple, effective shots to work wonders.

I rank Reservoir Dogs slightly below 'Jackie Brown', and higher than 'Pulp Fiction', but as a debut movie, it is surely one of the finest of the nineties.

Summary: