An Analysis on the Film Reservoir Dogs.

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This is an analysis of the film Reservoir Dogs, written and directed by Quentin Tarentino and starred in and co-produced by the renound actor Harvey Keital.

In this analysis I will mostly be looking at the directorial aspects of this film but at the same time also looking at the mise-en-scene aspects.  First here is an introduction to the film, Reservoir Dogs is simply a film about a robbery of a diamond store and practically everything which could go wrong, does go wrong.

This film is not flashy and the budget was not huge as it was an independent film and not a Hollywood blockbuster. The simplicity of this film almost helps the style of it. Although the film contains no real action scenes in it, it retains the strong feelings of tension the whole way through. This film uses elements from so many types of genres, obviously into the obvious one being heist movies. Throughout the film, several other genres pop into separate scenes. In the rest of this analysis I will look at two definitive scenes in this film in great detail and then I will close this piece with a conclusion of what the director did to make this film so good and why he did what he did. The two scenes I am going to look at are, firstly, the “infamous” torture scene and secondly the just as notorious shoot out at the end of the film which brings the film to an end very well.

First I will be looking at the torture scene. The characters involved are, Mr. Blonde, Mr. Orange and Marvin the cop. The basic plot of this scene is that the rest of the Characters have left Mr Blonde to guard the cop and the warehouse

which has on K Billy’s Super Sounds to the Seventies. The music is highly important in this scene because the music is used to grab your intention; it is also used to insure that no one turns around when it comes to the more violent action later in this film. It does this is by lightening the mood when Mr Blonde turns on the radio and you hear Steely Dan – Stuck in the Middle with You. This song almost sends the audience into a guilt trip, it does this by when we start listening to the music and we think, “This is nice”. We might start to tap our foot maybe, and enjoy watching Mr Blonde doing his dance. In addition when he starts to sing it almost adds an element of comedy to it. However then the more disturbing action unfolds and our heart stops when Mr. Blonde lunges at the cop with his shaving knife. He then proceeds to chop off the cop’s ear. The music still plays, just making it worse and it almost makes us feel sick and we are disgusted with ourselves for enjoying the start of the scene but we can’t look away now, we are almost entranced by what is happening now, but we can’t help but watch. Mr. Blonde departs to his car, which brings up an interesting point about the lighting of the film. As he walks out, you see that it is a very hot and sunny day. Some directors would have the weather reflect the general mood of the film but in here even though what is happening is dark and sinister, the weather is bright and it is in general a nice day. Mr. Blonde picks up a can of petrol or “Gasoline” from his car. He walks back into the Warehouse. In contrast to outside, the Warehouse is dark and dinghy; the lighting for this scene is very realistic. Mr. Blonde pours petrol over the cop, he takes out the gag, and so he can hear the cop beg. Mr. Blonde seems to enjoy hearing this and in this scene it helps you familiarise yourself with Mr. Blonde in your head more than in the rest of the film put together; you find out just how sadistic he is. The theme of contrast that surfaces through out the film, is shown here by the feelings of the two characters mainly involved in this scene. Mr. Blonde is thoroughly enjoying himself whereas Marvin is understandably scared for his life.

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Next comes an eye-opening event in the film when Mr. Blonde is about to light

now.

Next I will be looking at the shoot-out at the end of the film between Joe,

Mr. White and Nice Guy Eddie. This is the scene where Joe, who the rest of them have been waiting to come since the start, arrives. Joe announces to everyone that Mr. Orange is the rat but Mr. White tries to persuade Joe that he’s making a mistake but Joe won’t listen. He pulls out his gun but Mr. White is not going to let ...

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