RESERVOIR DOGS (1992) - Quentin Tarantino

Screenplay: Quentin Tarantino

Actors: Harvey Keitel, Steve Buscemi, Tim Roth, Michael Madsen,
Chris Penn, Lawrence Tierney

PLOT AND STRUCTURE

Hooking the viewer from the start
By starting your film with a bold, unconventional line of that caliber
(Madonna's 'big dick'), you can be sure that you'll catch the average
cinema-goer off guard. You must be able to back it up, as well as put
it into context sooner rather than later. Intrigue your audience from
the start and they will pay attention. But don't do it for show.
Dialogue about nothing, just for the sake of it, is the sign of an
amateur. Back up your statement by doing what, in this case, Mr.
Brown, does: explain the statement, all the while showing (not
telling) the character, how he came to that conclusion, how it relates
to the manner in which they view the world.

The dialogue in Reservoir Dogs works so well because it exists

purely to establish character. It's not inane, it's not about nothing,
it's about showing us these characters for the first time. When we
see Mr. Pink explain a simple philosophy behind why he doesn't tip,
we catch a glimpse of his character, of his mentality. By discussing it
with the others, we then also catch glimpses of their characters and
mentalities. We learn about them through dialogue. It immediately
makes us form opinions of these characters and let's them grow in
our own minds. Importantly, it does this in a natural way, without
being downright obvious about their character traits.

Placing contrasting scenes in a specific order to create and uphold

tension.
The jovial, laid-back and cool atmosphere of the opening diner
sequence (and "walking scene") where the main characters have
lunch and talk in a converse in a casual manner is contrasted by the
extremely tense and anxious atmosphere in the next scene, in which
one of the characters from the diner scene is lying in the backseat of
a moving car, writhing in a pool of his own blood, letting the
audience know he's been shot while another character is trying to
control the car while at the same time comforting the shot man. This
contrast provides a good deal of tension and sets up feelings of
confusion and suspense in the minds of the audience. We now know
something has gone horribly wrong, and we're left to figure out
what, why, and when, it went wrong. It also sets up an obstacle (Mr.
Orange's survival) that needs to be resolved.
Tarantino uses this technique several times during the film. Another
instance is when the pace slows down in the warehouse, Tarantino
cuts to an action-packed flashback episode from Mr. Pink's point-of-
view. This accelerates the pace of the film, satisfying the audience
curiosity into the past and at the same time amplifying curiosity as
to what happened to the others and what the future holds.

Setting up anticipation.
When the psychopath of the bunch, Mr. Blonde, shows he has taken
a cop hostage and they may be able to get some info on whether or
not it was a set-up, we immediately switch to a flashback. We don't
get to see them immediately get information from the cop. We want
to see it, but Tarantino let's the audience wait. He delays violence,
letting the viewer simmer with anticipation, anxiety and a promise of
violence around the corner.

He sets up anticipation again when he lets Nice Guy Eddie, Mr. White
and Mr. Pink leave the warehouse, leaving Mr. Blonde, Mr. Orange
and the tied up cop alone in a room together. This is a more clear
way of anticipation and works because of how we perceive Mr.
Blonde and our imagination runs riot, wondering what he will do with
the cop now he is on his own with him (knowing he's just come out
of prison and is a complete psychopath).

The suspense in Reservoir Dogs is created mainly by what we don't

know.
This technique is used from the first moments of the film. We are
watching a group of men having lunch. Never do we learn why they
are gathered here, all dressed in black suits and bearing the peculiar
names of different colours. But we are greatly intrigued and want to
find out. We don't learn much in terms of story in this opening
sequence, but we are pulled into their world and want to stick
around and learn more. This is in stark contrast to a screenwriting
convention where the first ten pages of a script are supposed to tell
you in no uncertain terms what, who and why the story exists.

Little by little we are filled in on the details, provided by Mr. White

and Mr. Pink, of what went wrong during the heist. But never is the
whole picture shoved down our throats, providing too much to
digest.

Further in the film, we take the character's anxieties on board and

we feel part of their world because we know almost as little as they
do about big parts of the story (what went wrong during the heist,
why Mr. Blonde went crazy, who the rat is, what he knows, etc.).
Throughout the film Tarantino is playing a game with the audience,
he wants to keep them in the dark until the last possible moment.
Instead of feeding us information to resolve issues as soon as they
arrive, he makes us wait. This relationship between suspense and
resolution makes Reservoir Dogs a very engaging film. For example,
the revelation that Mr. Orange is the cop is left until quite late on in
the film. Holding back this information for this long fuels the
suspense and chaos of the story. Then, when you least suspect it
and in an extremely tense situation (Mr. Blonde torturing the cop),
Mr. Orange is revealed as the rat. Again, this keeps the pulse of the
film high, making the audience work for answers and giving them
food for thought.

The strict supply of information also helps to increase the violent

atmosphere. Reservoir Dogs contains relatively little actual on-
screen violence, yet it comes across as an ultra-violent film. This is,
in part, due to the audience being required to supply the missing
images themselves, in their own minds. So the violence is
happening in the audience's head, making it much more powerful
and intrusive than if it were to happen on screen.

Letting the characters tell the story.

In Reservoir Dogs there is no omniscient or god-like point of view,
the audience relies on the characters for information, which puts us
right there with them and forces us to empathize with their
predicament.

One such example is when Mr. Orange shoots Mr. Blonde and then
reveals to the cop that he is in fact an undercover cop. This is a
major reveal in the film and because both policemen have lost
blood, they talk slowly, allowing for this new information to really
sink in with the audience. The cop knows Orange is a cop and gives
an explanation for how he knows this. Because it's such a huge
piece of information, the effects of it must receive enough time to
sink in and the scene must be played out in a natural way in order
for it to not throw the balance of the film.

A similar instance where this technique is used occurs in the final

scene, when Mr. Orange tells Mr. White that he is actually a cop. Mr.
White, having just been shot, takes longer to absorb this new
information. It makes the scene, and film, work because Tarantino
knows that when you reveal a twist, you have to give the audience
the time to absorb this information and he uses Mr. White's physical
condition and the situation perfectly.

Revealing and setting-up relationships.

There's a scene where Mr. White and Mr. Orange are scoping out the
location for the heist. Mr. White and Mr. Orange are bonding. This
scene sets-up their relationship and makes it easier to believe
White's actions when Orange gets shot and he tries to comfort him.

Feeding the subconscious.

Tarantino structures information in such a way that we actually know
a lot more about the characters than we think we now. The
introduction scene at the diner is a good example of this. He gives
the audience enough pieces of information to make us break down
and digest into our own complex renderings of the characters. It can
be argued that the truly special characters, characters that really
work, are imbued with life by the audience themselves, who read
into the characters based on what the writer puts in front of them.

Use of flashbacks.
There is a flashback sequence where we see Mr. Pink making his
escape, being trailed by several police officers. There are several
reasons why this flashback works well:
1) The present day action and dialogue that bookend both sides of
the flashback are directly related to what comes in between. This
lessons the impact of the linear break on your audience.
2) Despite moving back in time, Tarantino is moving his narrative
forward and revealing key character traits about Mr. Pink - his
willingness to do anything in order to save himself, which will come
into play later in the story.
3) The flashback has it's own micro-arch. Mr. Pink is running from the
cops - they catch up with him - he's trapped - yet he finds a way to
escape. These points are key for the character and story.
Thus, this flashback sequence contains the basic principles of scene
construction; every scene should move your story forward, reveal
character and have its own micro-arc.

Another fantastic flashback sequence is the four-scenes-in-one

reveal of how Mr. Orange/Freddy fabricates his anecdote. The beauty
of these four scene's structuring is how we see and experience
Freddy's progression from merely learning a story to relay to the
others, to making himself believe it; as it becomes real for us the
audience, we know that he has made it real for himself and,
therefor, the men of the gang that listen to him. Four scenes in four
locations and six-and-a-half pages: tight, innovative storytelling that
keeps in mind its budgetary restrictions and uses them to its
greatest advantage.

Switching the audience's concern.

The audience, much like the characters, spends the first half of the
film trying to figure out who the rat is. When this is revealed, the
tension seamlessly shifts to become the audience's concern of
whether Mr. Orange (the rat) will be found out by the others and
what will happen to him. Tarantino cleverly exploits this tension by
letting it sit. From the moment we know who the rat is, we get to see
his full backstory, building our empathy (and therefor increasing the
tension further) with this character.

Injecting chaos.
While Mr. White and Mr. Pink have guns drawn on each other, Mr.
Blonde joins the party. It's the same guy who they were both calling
a psycho earlier on in the film. In an other instance, Nice Guy Eddie
shows up at the warehouse as the guys are beating up the cop.
Once again, a new person is added into the mix to turn the scene
up. Personalities clash and tempers flare when the new guy tries to
understand the situation. When we left off, all the guys were calm,
but once Nice Guy Eddie comes in, they all go back at each others'
throats. Any time you can (as naturally as possible), inject more
chaos into a scene, do it.

SCREENPLAY
SCREENPLAY NOTES

THEMES
Bonds and loyalties.
Quasi-paternal bonds that constrict and compromise the characters;
the ill-fated friendship of Mr. White and Orange, the unswerving
loyalty between their boss and the unstable Mr. Blonde. Misplaced
loyalties lead these men to misjudge one another, mistake their
intentions, and fail to hear common sense. These personal defeats
shape the film.

Morality and order.

Due to its substantial focus on the fall of several criminal figures,
one can easily make the deduction that Reservoir Dogs is a crime or
gangster film. Yet to some extent, Tarantino also appears to utilize
the formula of a western, breaking down the boundaries between
genres and combining two somewhat similar but ultimately
contradictory types of film. In particular, rather than having a
morally-upright protagonist fight to uphold law and order, as one
would expect to find within a traditional western, Reservoir Dogs
features a variety of immoral gangsters ironically attempting to
restore order in their group by uncovering the man who had
betrayed the to the police.
SCENES???
-

CHARACTERS
Mr. White
Played by Harvey Keitel, Mr. White reflects his codename somewhat;
he is the older, wiser, more experienced thug in the crew. He's been
around for a long time and has the best bond with Joe Cabot. This is
subtly set-up from the start of the film when he snaps at the big
boss, Joe Cabot, in front of the other guys. This hints at the mutual
respect between White and Joe and the fact he's not afraid to show
the others this bond. He also takes Mr. Orange under his wing,
another sign of his age and wisdom coming into play. He almost
becomes some sort of father figure to the young Orange.

Mr. Orange
Played by Tim Roth, Mr. Orange is the undercover cop of the story.
He also somewhat reflects the colour given to his character; young,
bright and eager to accomplish his goal. Again there is a subtle set-
up at the beginning of the film; at the diner scene, just after Pink has
delivered his "I don't tip" speech, Joe Cabot asks who didn't tip and
immediately Orange spills the beans. Once a rat, always a rat. Mr.
Orange looks up to Mr. White, like an apprentice to his master. He
takes his determination to get the job done, perhaps interfered by
his newly created bond with Mr. White, to extreme lengths and ends
up shooting a civilian who shoots him.

Mr. Pink
Played by Steve Buscemi, Mr. Pink oozes untrustworthiness. He's an
archetypal neurotic and paranoid cynic. But he's a professional, or at
least professes to be, and likes to use logic. A stand-out exchange
between him and Mr. White, Pink snaps at White and says "For all I
know, you're the rat". Angered, Mr. White shouts back, "For all I
know, you're the fuckin' rat!". Mr. Pink doesn't tae offense at this:
"See, now you're using your head.". To Mr. Pink, everyone's a fucking
rat. He's the film's cynical voice of reason; he's the type of guy who
you'd catch saying things like "I'm surrounded by idiots."

Mr. Blonde
Played by Michael Madsen, Mr. Blonde is the psychopath of the
bunch. He's a loose cannon, hard to read because he does not reveal
much about himself and he stays calm at every moment. He does
not even raise his voice in the film, the only one not to do so. He
tortures a cop while dancing along to an upbeat song, which comes
across as completely normal behavior for him.
Nice Guy Eddie
Played by Chris Penn, Nice Guy Eddie is the son of kingpin Joe Cabot.
And his exterior shows it, his outfit throughout the film is a very
colourful track jacket which he leaves slightly open to reveal his
chest hair, he wears black cowboy boots and his accessories show
off his wealth and status; heavy gold rings and chains. He's not the
archetypal son that thinks he has power of everybody just because
he's the son of the boss, but he does have a confidence and certain
manner that reveal his status and power.

Joe Cabot
Played by Lawrence Tierney, Joe Cabot is the boss of the crew. He
sets up the heist. He's a beast of a man, his stature reflecting his
authoritative and no-nonsense personality. As he remarks in the film,
it's either "his way or the highway"

Mystery works.
Crime films such as Reservoir Dogs are about mystery and if they
were to give away the true life behind each man a great deal of that
mystery would be taken away from the audience. In turn, this
mystery adds on to the masculinity concept of crime films. The more
information given about a character, the more vulnerable he
becomes.

Investment.
Tarantino has long wanted us to know whether his cartoonish killers
and tragic heroines prefer crunchy or creamy, how the bad guys wile
away the flaccid hours between jobs, and the names of their go-to
karaoke songs. he dares to invest buffoons and killers, with an
interior, frequently mundane life and in doing so, dares us, the
audience, to invest in those same buffoons and killers. He has a
fascination with thugs and vigilantes in crisis.

ACTING
The silent psycho.
Mr. Blonde, arguably the most crazy and psychopathic character in
the film, is the only person to not raise his voice in the whole film.
He's the calmest guy in the room while being the craziest. It makes
him very difficult to read and gives the audience the idea he can be
a loose canon at any moment.

Mr. Blonde's details.

Madsen's believable joke straight after he's cut the ear off; he talks
into the ear, asking the cop if he can hear him. This is where Mr.
Blonde becomes a character you just can't forget. He adds little
details, like wiping blood on the hostage so he isn't dirty. He has
absolutely no remorse for what he's done. Adds to his chilling
performance, and makes the audience laugh, which in turn makes
the audience feel involved, guilty of being slightly immoral
themselves.

Nice touch.
Mr. White holding Orange's hand whilst they drive the getaway car is
a nice touch.

DIALOGUE
Show, don't tell.
Tarantino's characters talk a lot, but they tell us very little directly
about themselves or about the story they are involved in; instead
they talk to each other and allow us to eaves drop in on what feels
like real, private conversations. And through these casual,
unguarded moments, we learn about them. From the start, this
overload of dialogue doesn't just introduce us to the characters, it
immerses us into their world.

Realistic reactions.
As Mr. Orange is crying out from the backseat, Mr. White is trying to
take his mind off the pain, via combination of logic and humor.
Mr. Orange: I'm going to die
Mr White: Oh excuse me, I didn't realize you had a degree in
medicine. Uhh.. are you a doctor? Are you a doctor? Answer me,
please, are you a doctor? Huh?
Mr. Orange: No, I'm not.
Mr. White: Okay, so you admit you don't know what you're
talking about. So, if you're through giving me your amateur
opinion...

CAMERA WORK
The opening sequence at the diner.
camera-work allows us to see each character's response and
reaction to the conversation. This technique allows us to be
introduced to each of the characters,and their personalities. Also, it
gives the impression to the audience that it has just stumbled upon
the middle of a conversation, making us feel involved with the
conversation as it is taking place.

The torture sequence.

The most heinous act of physical torture in the film, the slicing off of
the cop's ear, takes place off-screen. Tarantino utilizes a writer's
most powerful (and also cheapest, which is important in a low-
budget film) weapon in his arsenal: the audience's imagination. The
ingeniousness of this is it forces the audience to participate in the
filmmakers creation, making them active collaborators in the unseen
carnage as opposed to passive bystanders ogling special effects.

Close-up shot of Mr. White (final shot of the film).

We hear sirens, the sounds of more cars driving up, men running to
the warehouse. While all this noise is going on, the screen is filled
only with Mr. White's staggering about. Orange reveals to White that
he is, in fact, an undercover cop. More sounds of police arriving and
shouting orders are heard, yet the camera stays on Mr. White's eyes.
Why? Because this is exactly where the real drama of the film's
ending is happening. And that, ultimately, is what it is all about -
finding what will tell the dramatic truth of a moment on-screen.

The tracking shot of Mr. Blonde.

A great way to build up anticipation and audience participation is by
letting the camera follow Mr. Blonde step by step to his car, in one
long tracking shot. This achieves two effects. First, we don't know
what is about to happen. Are there cops outside waiting for him?
What is the cop doing in the meantime, will he be able to free
himself? What is Mr. Blonde going to get out of his car?

The silence in this scene works very well. As soon as Mr. Blonde
steps out of the warehouse, the music completely fades. The silence
gives the audience a time to reflect on the events that have just
taken place, and it's a great way to involve the viewer; no one
outside of the warehouse knows what's going on inside, except for
us, Blonde and the policeman.

The camera pull-back to reveal Mr. Blonde.

When Mr. White and Mr. Pink are pointing guns at each other, the
camera pulls back slowly, at length; at first it seems like a self-
conscious visual allusion to how small-minded these crooks are (as
well as a distancing tactic). But the camera, it turns out, is pulling
back to reveal Mr. Blonde, who sucks on a soda and watches the
men with quiet amusement. Suddenly he looms large in the frame,
while the other two look like squabbling insects in the background.

SOUNDTRACK
Stuck in the Middle - Steeler's Wheel
This is a well known upbeat song that everyone enjoys. It is used
cleverly, we become humored and distracted by Mr. Blonde's
performance toward the song (he dances and sings along) so it's
unexpected when Mr. Blonde slashes the policeman across the face.
We snap back to the reality of the film and start to feel
uncomfortable watching a maniac cut into a police officer's face.
This juxtaposition as a positive and a negative are put together.

LOCATION
Empty warehouse.
The bulk of the action in Reservoir Dogs takes place in an empty
warehouse. This can be risky, as using the same location and
remaining there for long periods of time can make a film feel cheap
and give the audience a sense of claustrophobia. What Tarantino has
done is anticipated these downsides and uses them to his
advantage. His use of this location makes us feel isolated in the
world of these violent men. Like them, the audience is unable to see
anything beyond their limited scope. We are trapped with them,
waiting for the boss, Joe, who will solve all our problems. There is no
feeling of escape or of choice. Not cutting away for long periods of
time adds to the tension; the audience must suffer the same
troubling doubts and unknowing the characters do.

The warehouse location also works to build up claustrophobia among

the characters. Not knowing what is going outside and not receiving
any answers to their questions, they turn on each other like rats in a
cage. However, for this single location technique to work, a writer
must give us a logical, reasonable and believable reason to keep us
there. It must become a part of the story, a part of the structure.

PROPS AND WARDROBE

Imagery.
The black tuxedo's don't give the audience much of an explanation
as to who or what the character's are, but it makes it clear they
belong to the same group and there's a sense of unity. Same goes
for their names, all colours.

The wedding ring.

It's a tiny snippet of information given to the audience, but it evokes
many different meanings which the audience will come up with
themselves. Is he married? Was he married? Is it a good luck charm?
Is he using it as an excuse? What happened?

Nice Guy Eddie's clothing.

His outfits throughout the film are an expression of his status and
power, but also of a certain confidence and joviality. Eddie is see
nearing everything the viewers would expect a character of his
status to wear. he craves to be Mr. King Pin with his black cowboy
boots, heavy gold rings and partially shown hairy chest with the
golden cross necklace.

Joe Cabot's throne.

Joe sits behind his desk on a mighty chair. What adds power to his
set-up is the two huge tusks or horns behind him, protruding from
the sides beneath him, framing him as he sits on his throne.

Character revealing colours.

One might argue that each man represented his colour in some
aspect. Mr. White is older with more experience, while Mr. Orange is
young, bright and eager to accomplish his goal. Mr. Pink is insecure,
which is further shown through his ignorance of the colour pink. Mr.
Blonde reflects confidence and crude behavior in a way society may
portray a blonde without the aspect of being considered foolish.

INFLUENCES
- The Killing (1956) by Stanley Kubrick is a source of influence in
style, structure and editing.

- The plot for the film was inspired by Kansas City Confidential
(1952).

- It could be argued that the torturing of the police officer shows

similar qualities to the scene wherein a detective is tortured in The
Big Combo (1955) by Joseph H. Lewis.

- The idea to name the robbers after colours comes from the film
The Taking of Pelham One Two Three (1974) by Joseph Sargent.

- However, the most striking resemblance and influence comes from

the Hong Kong film City on Fire (1987) by Ringo Lam. Several similar
key plot elements and scenes, such as the the under cop story, the
hideout eventually being flooded with police and most notably the
famous Mexican standoff near the end of the film, are featured in
both films.

CRITICISM
- The scene where Mr. White and Mr. Pink first describe what went
wrong during the robbery carries on for a bit too long. The sequence
is lengthy, but manages to keep the audience interested by pumping
in tension and by use of flashback, but it's share size makes it feel
slightly drawn-out.

CINEMATOGRAPHY
When you're on a budget, you've got to be creative. Imagery is what
makes a film memorable. A film needs iconic shots. The shot of a
few fella's in black suits, ties and sunglasses walking in slow motion
has become iconic. It doesn't need much, it just needs to be good.

Tarantino's piet
When a shot-up, dying Mr. White takes Mr. Orange in his lap.

This section will contain stills from the film, along with commentary
of the camera-work, the lighting, the composition, etc.