Figure 1 Film poster (1992)

Film Review – Reservoir Dogs

Hannah Milliner

Reservoir Dogs was directed by Quentin Tarantino Released in 1992. The film is about a group of

stranger being put together to pull off a big diamond heist, it’s the base for the whole film and yet the

audience are only told that the characters were set up and the heist went wrong. The film is dominant

with male characters with only a handful of females appearing throughout the whole film and yet as

Harris suggests a lot of the film can be related to feminism. “In this film the feminine is a position, not

an essential identity. Sexual difference is fragile and unreliable yet still an anxious necessity. Throughout

the film, the men react to the threat of becoming the degraded other” (Harris, 2001: 79) One example

of this is when Mr Pink was given his code name. He didn’t like it because it is perceived as feminine,

so therefore weaker than the others. Although throughout the film women are presented as a weaker

gender there is a brief moment when they are more powerful, the scene in mind is the one where Mr

Orange is shot while trying to steal a woman’s car.

Tarantino establishes the relationship status between the characters very quickly in the film and have

also established the different characteristics present in the group. As Benmark explains the use of

camera angles and shot sequences. “The two shot of White and Orange, linking those two characters

in our minds without drawing any sort of attention to it… One other key thing that happens here is

Blonde's suggestion of shooting White, placing him as the psychopath of the group. In less than a

minute of screen time, we've established baseline relationships and characteristics for the major

conflicts of the film: White vs. Joe, White vs Blonde, and eventually White vs Orange.” (Benmark, 2012)

From Benmark’s explanation it appears that white, being the more professional and experienced of the

criminals is the one trying to be the most masculine and clashing with the other characters. White spend

the majority of the film protecting Orange like a son but as soon as he finds that Orange is in fact an

undercover cop he becomes more powerful than White even though he is very weak from blood loss

from being shot earlier in the film, but White then stops being protective and goes on the offensive

holding Orange at gun point. (Figure.2)

Figure 2 Gun point (1992)

There are a number of props use throughout the film that gives more explanation to a character without

it ever really being mentioned in dialogue. Haveron uses the example of Mr Orange’s wedding ring he

wears during his background story. “The use of props helps to portray a great deal of the viewer’s

perspective on each man. A great example of this is Mr Orange’s wedding ring… allows viewers to

question his past and previous life… It is possible that the ring would have provided a good cover story,

or that it may have simply just been a gesture of good luck. The ring could have also been a gentle

reminder of a late wife.” (Haveron, s.d) Another example is the knife that Mr Blonde keeps in his boot,

there’s no explanation as to why he keeps it with him or why it’s a shaving knife rather than a Swiss

knife or a regular knife. Throughout the film however it is made clear that Blonde is mentally unstable,

and dislikes alarms which causes him to shoot people during the heist, the fear of loud noises could

indicate that he suffered from post-traumatic stress which could possibly be because he served in a war

He’s been in prison which could suggest that he was attacked in prison so he keeps it as a self-defence.

Whatever the reason is for the knife it’s clear that he likes to see people suffer. This is evident from

when he interrogates the police officer, first he uses his nice to cut the man’s ear off, then threatens to

burn him alive. He clearly puts a great deal of thought into his acts of violence if he didn’t he could just

use a gun instead.

Bibliography

Benmark, A (2012) Reservoir Dogs Opening Scene: An Analysis At:

http://yeah-but-still.blogspot.co.uk/2012/04/reservoir-dogs-opening-scene-analysis.html

(Accessed on 11/2/14)

Harris, A (2001) ‘Ah Doctor is There Nothing I Can Take?’ A Review of Reservoir Dogs At:

http://books.google.co.uk/books?hl=en&lr=&id=E1BxjxlZ-

hUC&oi=fnd&pg=PA1&dq=reservoir+dogs&ots=yBbgkXVqEF&sig=j1Cld5NnjLoo1IwdUOI1qoyb8sc#v

=onepage&q=reservoir%20dogs&f=false

(Accessed on 11/2/14)

Haveron, A (s.d) Critical Analysis At:

http://amyhaveron.wordpress.com/critical-analysis/

(Accessed on 11/2/14)

Illustrations

Figure 1. Film poster (1992) From: Reservoir Dogs. Directed by: Quentin Tarantino. [Film poster] USA.

At:

http://www.impawards.com/1992/posters/reservoir_dogs_ver2.jpg

(Accessed on 11/2/14)

Figure 2. Gun point (1992) From: Reservoir Dogs. Directed by: Quentin Tarantino. [Film still] USA. At:

http://i500.listal.com/image/3793549/500full.jpg

(Accessed on 11/2/14)