Looking Back at RESERVOIR DOGS: Tarantino’s Seminal Debut

It is a pity that writing reviews of Quentin Tarantino films does not come to me as easily as it comes to him to write those long dialogues, so very characteristic of his work. It is difficult here to strain oneself to be original. Whatever one writes about this director, it is impossible not to mention the enormous and unconditional love he has for cinema or curiosities such as the fact that he actually learned the film craft in a video rental store in Manhattan Beach, California, where he worked and had access to countless films. Reservoir Dogs.

However, despite the obviousness of these facts, it is necessary to mention them. Otherwise, one could not understand where the genius of Tarantino’s works truly lies, and it would certainly be a sin to omit them when reviewing his debut work. The work through which Quentin kicked open the doors of Hollywood and forever changed the face of cinema. The work without which the cult Pulp Fiction would not have been created. I am, of course, referring to the no less cult Reservoir Dogs.

The film begins with a brilliant scene in which we see eight men sitting at a table in a cheap restaurant. One of them analyzes Madonna’s song Like a Virgin, another tries to find a forgotten name in an address book (which annoys the others), and yet another expresses his stance on not giving tips. These are the main characters. Six of them are dressed in elegant suits with nicknames referring to colors: Mr. Blonde, Mr. Blue, Mr. Brown, Mr. Orange, Mr. Pink, and Mr. White. The remaining two are their employers, Joe Cabot and his son, Eddie.

Even in this opening scene, the future creator of Pulp Fiction gives a sample of what has become a hallmark of his films, giving them an incredible atmosphere through engaging dialogues about nothing and interestingly constructed character personalities.

They plan a heist on a jewellery store. However, something goes wrong, as soon after (since we are not shown the robbery itself) we see Mr. White driving frantically with a bloody Mr. Orange, who has been shot in the stomach. The action moves to an abandoned warehouse, where in addition to Mr. White and Mr. Orange, Mr. Pink and, a little later, Mr. Blonde arrive. Together, they try to determine what caused the failed heist.

There is suspicion that one of them may be a police informant (after all, they know nothing about each other besides their color-coded nicknames), and the planned heist might have been a setup. Will they be able to figure out who betrayed them despite mutual accusations and mistrust? That simply must be seen…

Reservoir Dogs is not, as the above description might suggest, a typical gangster film. This is not the kind of mafia cinema like Francis Ford Coppola’s The Godfather or Sergio Leone’s Once Upon a Time in America. It is closer to Scorsese’s Mean Streets, but even that is a different caliber. Here everything is topsy-turvy, with a wink, somewhat not seriously. The film’s action is based solely on dialogues and verbal twists characteristic of Tarantino. There are no spectacular chases or shootouts. It is almost like theatre.

The characters are placed in one room, except for flashbacks, which gives the illusion that, like actors on a stage, they thrash across the scene to capture the viewer’s attention. And they succeed. The viewer cannot take their eyes off the screen, listening to the dialogue rich in vulgarities and seeing the violence that had previously characterized B cinema. It must be added that Reservoir Dogs is a brutal film, but the violence here is only an instrument Tarantino used to create an incredibly gripping work and one of the many elements that contribute to the success of this film as well as the others he would later make.

Tarantino loves cinema—everyone knows that by now. Without that feeling, none of his films would exist. He often expresses this feeling by borrowing ideas from others and then reshaping them in his own unique, inimitable style. Every Tarantino work is a treasure trove of borrowings, which a keen viewer discovers during the screening, adding another layer of enjoyment. Tarantino himself does not hide his inspirations. The same applies to Reservoir Dogs. From the naming of the main characters, inspired by Joseph Sargent’s The Taking of Pelham One Two Three with Warren Beatty and Robert Shaw, to plot references to Ringo Lam’s City on Fire or Stanley Kubrick’s The Killing.

Some scenes are even lifted directly from other films. I am referring here to the already cult scene of torturing a policeman, in which Mr. Blonde cuts off his ear. Tarantino, frame by frame, quotes one of the most famous spaghetti westerns in cinema history, Sergio Corbucci’s Django. This scene in Reservoir Dogs caused as much commotion as its original did in 1966 and was almost removed from the final cut of the film. However, at the last moment, the director moves the camera out of view, showing only an empty space.

The viewer, hearing only the policeman’s screams, imagines how the scene might actually look and creates the bloody images in their mind. It is worth adding that the cinematographer here was Andrzej Sekuła, who later collaborated with Tarantino on Pulp Fiction and a segment of Four Rooms.

The success of Reservoir Dogs would not have been so immense without excellent acting. In the forefront are Tim Roth as Mr. Orange and Harvey Keitel as Mr. White. The former created one of the first major roles in his career in this film, and without Keitel, Tarantino’s debut would never have seen the light of day. It was he who noticed the script of the budding director and agreed to play one of the main roles, increasing the budget from one hundred fifty thousand dollars to three hundred fifty thousand. One of the best performances, both in the film and in his career, was Michael Madsen as the psychopathic Mr. Blonde.

His role is mainly remembered for the aforementioned ear-cutting scene, in which he twitches to Stuck in the Middle With You by Stealers Wheel, or the cult line Are you gonna bark all day, little doggie, or are you gonna bite?

Indeed, in Reservoir Dogs every character utters lines that have become permanent fixtures on the list of the most popular film quotes. Thus, we have Steve Buscemi as the excellent Mr. Pink and his lines on tipping, Chris Penn as Nice Guy Eddie and his story about a beaten woman taking drastic revenge on her husband, and Quentin Tarantino himself with his monologue on the significance of Madonna’s song. These are just a few examples; one could list endlessly. In any case, it must be heard with one’s own ears and seen with one’s own eyes because these dialogues would not sound as good without the actors delivering them.

Reservoir Dogs is a work that once divided its audience between absolute enthusiasts and staunch opponents. Some marveled at the excellent performances, brilliant dialogues, and remarkable soundtrack. Others accused the director of dwelling on violence, cruelty, and vulgarity.

Today, it is a true classic, now mentioned in the same breath as other giants of gangster cinema and beyond. The famous ear-cutting scene has been compared to the shower scene from Hitchcock’s Psycho, and Tarantino himself to Sam Peckinpah, Martin Scorsese, and Abel Ferrara. Critics formed favorable opinions of Tarantino’s debut, and even those for whom it evoked extreme emotions highlight his contribution to cinema history.

The style he initiated in Reservoir Dogs and later developed in Pulp Fiction has also inspired many imitators. The best example is Guy Ritchie and his Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels and Snatch, which perhaps best demonstrates the value of this work. This film is simply a must-see!