Reservoir Dogs: Review by Brian Herron

Reservoir Dogs

Quentin Tarantino

Released: 1991

Reservoir Dogs is a story about a group of criminals who are paid to rob a jewelry store, however, the robbery goes bad when they are encountered by the police very quickly during the robbery. A few of the criminals manage to escape; one of them shot really badly in the stomach. The survivors rendezvous at an abandoned warehouse where they realize that one of the men in the group set them up and is working with the police.

In the beginning of the film, the setting is based in a cheap restaurant and all the main characters, with the exception of two, are all dressed in black suits, black ties, and white shirts. The Mise en Scene so far in the film shows the viewer that these men are not rich white collar workers because the setting shows them at an average restaurant and most of them are wearing the same clothes. This tells the viewer that they either work for the government or are a group of gangsters. The filthy language and conversations that these characters have in this setting tell the viewer that these men are real hard asses, which in most people’s minds would tell them that they are most likely a group of gangsters.

The setting in the big empty warehouse is where most of the movie takes place. The lighting is one of the aspects of the Mise en Scene that gives this away to the viewer because you can see shadows of steel up holdings and pipelines. The light also tells the viewer that it is still daytime because of the shadows created as well as the amount of light in the warehouse. Because of this lighting effect, the viewer can assume that the warehouse isn’t too far from where the robbery took place because the time of day effect never changed. The setting also shows ladders, brooms, ramps, and other work equipment that tells the viewer that this was once a place of labor.

Tarantino likes to use a lot of loose framing, even during intense moments of a characters dialogue. This is to show the audience other characters reactions to anothers dialogue. It is also used to remind the viewer of the setting the characters are in which links to why the dialogue is so intense. For example, when Mr. White wants to leave the warehouse in fear of being caught by the police is stopped by Mr. Blonde, Mr. White yells at Mr. Blonde about how they need to leave and pulls out his gun to show how serious he is. The whole time Tarantino has a loose frame showing the viewer that they are still in the warehouse and that this is why Mr. White is so intense.

Brian Herron