Quentin Tarantino
Le Iene

The directorial debut of Quentin Tarantino deals with a failed heist at a jewelry store. "Reservoir Dogs" shares many similarities with "Pulp Fiction" but consists of a single story and is notable for its narrative density. The boss, Joe Cabot, hires six gangsters for a heist; the criminals don't know each other and are identified by a fictitious name, corresponding to a color. The heist fails—tipped off, the police are already on the scene. A shootout ensues, instigated by the sadistic Mr. Blonde (Michael Madsen).

In the opening scene, the criminals meet in a diner and start discussing a song by "Madonna"... "Like A Virgin is about a girl with a huge dick, the whole song is a metaphor for big dicks" "No, it's about a vulnerable girl because she's been screwed over, then she meets a sensitive guy..." "No no no, sweetheart, these are tourist bullshit... " They then argue over tipping the waitress... "Fork out some dough for the lady... come on, fork out a greenback" "Ah ah, I don't tip" "You don't tip?" "No, I don't believe in it" "You don't believe in it?" I skip some parts... "They’re just doing their job" "But she was nice" "Yes, but what did she do that was special?" "What was she supposed to do? Blow you under the table?" During this conversation, Tarantino skillfully toes the line of ridiculousness, without turning his "heroes" into caricatures. The film is presented in flashback form, and the plot is cleverly constructed like a puzzle, which viewers must piece together, one fragment at a time.

After the diner meeting, Mr. White (Harvey Keitel) and Mr. Orange (Tim Roth) escape to an abandoned warehouse, where they meet Mr. Pink (Steve Buscemi) who has managed to get away with the diamonds. Mr. Blonde also arrives, bringing with him a cop whom he's stuffed into the car trunk. The gangsters quickly start accusing each other, and everyone suspects the others. Who is the traitor, is the film's central theme. Who betrayed them? While the others deal with Mr. Orange, who is severely injured, debating whether to leave him at a hospital or let him die on the spot, Mr. Blonde ties the cop to a chair with the intent of torturing him. The core of the film takes place in the warehouse, a long scene frequently artfully interrupted at crucial moments by flashbacks, showcasing how the boss recruited the six criminals to form the gang. This device, along with successful dialogues that suggest it's a "tough" thing to be a gangster, keeps Tarantino's work interesting until the last minute. The most gruesome scene is when Mr. Blonde, left alone with the cop and the dying Mr. Orange, cuts off the officer's ear and then drenches him in gasoline to set him on fire. Even this seemingly implausibly cruel scene is tempered if viewed through the lens of the grotesque and satire that permeates the entire film. Tarantino is innovative in this regard as well; seen through his eyes, crime lacks romance, and similarly, violence lacks realism. Just as Mr. Blonde, dancing to "Stuck In The Middle With You", is about to set the cop on fire...

Tarantino has crafted his own understanding of cinema, reading cheap crime novels and watching films where violence was the central theme. He distilled this cultural upbringing into a personal style, effectively creating a new genre. "Reservoir Dogs" is a clear example, in form a classic gangster story, in substance a tragedy of classical mold, without straying from the formal structure of the genre, the director makes it his own, renewing it with heavy doses of irony and staging it with actors who speak in a language not conforming to the distinctive features of drama but maintaining its central theme, death as a concluding, purifying phase.

PS. Great soundtrack, my favorite song is "Little Green Bag" by George Baker; best actor, Michael Madsen as the psychopath.