I distinctly remember seeing Reservoir Dogs for the first time. I had read an article, I'm pretty sure it was in Fangoria magazine, in which director Wes Craven was talking about a movie so intense that, at one point, he had to leave the theater. I was like, what?!! The director of one of the most depraved movies I'd ever seen at that point, Last House on the Left, and one of the most intense, The Hills Have Eyes, had seen something so horrific, he couldn't bear to watch it?
For most people, that might have been a red flag, but, honestly, it just made me want to see it more. I mean, if a film was insane enough to give the creator of freaking Freddy Kruger nightmares, then it must be something special, right? Unfortunately, I had a bit of a wait on my hands, as the film never played in theaters in my area, so I was forced to hold out for it to come out on VHS.
Fast forward to about mid-'93 - I'm not sure of the exact date, but it was definitely before True Romance came out, because I did get to see that one in theatres - and me and a friend rented the film just as soon as I could get a hold of it. It would soon become one of those films you quickly share with everyone you know, or at least those like-minded individuals you thought might dig it. (Perhaps needless to say, my mom was not one of them, lol.)
I remember being completely blown away by the movie, having never quite seen anything like it before. At the time, I had definitely seen The Godfather films because of my father, and I just adored Scarface, but even I recognized at an early age that it was a bit of a cartoon, especially the ending. I may not have been familiar with cocaine, but even I knew that no one could take that many bullets and still be standing!
I also think I had started to get into Scorsese not long before that. By then, I had probably seen Taxi Driver and Goodfellas, so gangster movies- or Harvey Keitel, for that matter- were relatively known to me. But Reservoir Dogs was something completely different. As many have pointed out, it's a heist film in which the heist never happens- or rather, is never seen on screen. That was certainly an unusual approach, though not without precedent, as I would later find out.
Similarly, it was told in nonlinear fashion, which was also unique to me. Though I was definitely familiar with David Lynch, he hadn't quite dived head-first into that approach the way he would in later years, and I can't think of a movie that I had seen a that point that had used quite that same approach as of yet. Books, sure, and movies with flashbacks, but not movies that were wholesale out of order like this one.
Of course, as hardcore fans know, QT wore his influences on his sleeve- something he would become widely known for, but was kind of unusual at the time as well, save maybe for someone like Brian DePalma, who was more accused of wholesale ripping off Hitchcock than "paying homage," the way Tarantino was here, and in most future efforts. Which is not to say I agree with that assessment, as I was a huge fan of DePalma long before QT made his fanboy-dom widely known.
This "sampling" of other filmmakers' works would eventually garner him some criticism, but at the time, it felt fresh and new for an indie filmmaker to pay homage to such lofty sources as Goddard and Kubrick, and such then-lesser-known (save, of course, to hardcore movie buffs and film critics) cult flicks as The Killing, Breathless, The Taking of Pelham 1-2-3, Django, Mean Streets, City of Fire, Kansas City Confidential and plenty more where that came from. (I hadn't seen any of those movies at the time I saw the film.)
What made it unique here was that QT wasn't afraid to throw more highfalutin sources of inspiration right alongside the more exploitation-based ones, which did not go unnoticed by critics at the time, even the ones who were underwhelmed at the time, like Roger Ebert, who only gave it two-and-a-half-stars out of four.
By combining elements of high art and low art, QT created something that, if not necessarily unprecedented, certainly felt new at the time, which is hard for those people who grew up in a post-QT world to truly grasp. Watching it now, it doesn't feel as radical as it did then, but only because so many filmmakers have, in turn, ripped off QT's style. But back then, it was like a breath of fresh air, just when things were getting a bit stale in the independent film scene.
As pointed out in the bonus feature on the Sundance screening, Tarantino was part of, if you'll excuse the expression, a "new" New Wave of filmmakers that were taking big chances and doing different things. That year, such films as Gregg Araki's The Living End, Tom Kalin's Swoon, Alexandre Rockwell's In the Soup (also with Dogs star Steve Buscemi) and Katt Shea's Poison Ivy all screened, and it was clear that something new was in the air.
This would all be driven home by the advent in future years of such rising star filmmakers as QT compadre Robert Rodriguez, Kevin Smith, Wes Anderson, Bryan Singer and David O. Russell, all of whom had films that made a splash at Sundance in the following years. Most of these filmmakers would make films that were clearly inspired by QT's work in the years to come, and after his next film, the hugely successful Pulp Fiction, came out, there would be scads more where that came from.
In addition, there was the way his characters talked. I can't recall having ever seen a film before with such naturalistic dialogue. It really felt like you were watching real people talk about ordinary things, including copious amounts of pop culture references- everything from Madonna and the music of the 70's to old TV shows and movie stars.
Of course, what set this apart was that these weren't just ordinary people, or even real friends- most of them didn't know each other at all, in fact. What we were seeing was unfiltered- and decidedly uncensored- guy talk in its purest, most undiluted form.
That some of it was about the seemingly lightweight likes of pop star Madonna- who, incidentally, was "Nice Guy Eddie" actor Chris Penn's former sister-in-law, as she used to be married to his brother, Sean Penn, which only adds a layer of weirdness to the proceedings- just made it all the more endearing. It seems that even gangsters have an opinion on mainstream pop stars. (Madonna herself loved the film, though she quickly refuted QT's by now infamous take on her song "Like a Virgin.")
It was also clever the way that Tarantino used said dialogue to reveal elements of character, rather than having a lot of expository dialogue about each character's background. As with the characters themselves, we aren't meant to know a lot about their pasts- even, in some cases, their real names. We get a few tantalizing glimpses and that's about it.
There are certainly some big reveals, obviously- the biggest being the revelation of who the "rat" is- but overall, the film isn't too concerned with these characters' pasts. Indeed, QT cut out one scene which shed a lot of light on Mr. White's past, and I think it was a smart move- the less we know, the better, really, contrary to some critics' complaints at the time, who felt the characters were "undeveloped."
This isn't that sort of film. What you see is what you get, and Tarantino admittedly leaves you wanting even more. Sadly, a proposed prequel (entitled "Double V Vega"), involving Vic and Vincent Vega, aka Michael Madsen's Mr. Blonde and John Travolta's character in Pulp Fiction, would never quite come to pass, so there's a lot we'll never know, but I really don't mind it that much. Fun fact: In a Pulp Fiction deleted scene, Vincent says that singer Suzanne Vega, of "Luka" and "Tom's Diner" fame, is his cousin, which her Vic's as well.
To me, we get just enough to feel like we know these characters, and to like them, in spite of what they do for a living, which, lest we forget, can often involve hurting people. After all, they're gangsters. That kind of comes with the territory. Indeed, just by virtue of falling in with gangsters, undercover cop, Mr. Orange, aka Freddy (Tim Roth, in an awe-inspiring performance), ends up killing a civilian his own damn self- albeit under duress, but still.
And yet, it's awful hard to hate these characters, even the horrific Mr. Blonde, who tortures a cop within an inch of his life in the film's most notorious scene. As much as was made about the film's gratuitous violence, the truth is, we never actually see Vic cut off the cop's ear- we only see the aftermath. It was just so terrible that a lot of people covered their eyes or looked away- or, in Wes Craven's case, left the theater altogether.
But Tarantino learned a lot from all those movies he watched growing up and working at Video Archives- notably, that sometimes less is more. As we see in the DVD/Blu-Ray bonus features, QT actually shot that scene in all its horrific bloody gory glory, but opted not to use it. Instead, he wisely lets the camera pan to the side- "watch your head" intones the literal writing on the wall- and lets viewers fill-in-the-blanks themselves, and they did just that.
Like Texas Chainsaw Massacre and Jaws before it, viewers thought they saw far worse than they actually did, which, in a sense, they actually did, as their own minds filled in the blanks, and what we come up with in our own imaginations is often far worse than anything we might see on a movie or TV screen. That's why books are often more effective than movies and TV shows- there's nothing worse than picturing things ourselves.
And yet, in spite of this, Vic Vega is kind of the personification of gangster movie cool. I mean, you might cringe at the actual torture itself, but who doesn't smile a little when they think of the bit where he does a little soft-shoe to "Stuck in the Middle with You"? It's a horrific situation, to be sure, but it's also an endearing move on Madsen's part that makes the character more likable than he has any right to be.
On the other hand, the second time he does it is decidedly less effective and amusing, because, as we see from what he's carrying in from the trunk of his car, things are about to get way worse. Suddenly, the prospect of seeing a man being burned alive overwhelms the sense of playfulness on Madsen's part, and we're not smiling at it anymore- not that we were during that moment with Mr. Blonde severing the ear- but even then, we have that bit where he talks into the severed ear, which is still perversely, subversively funny.
Reportedly, the actor playing the cop, Kirk Baltz, improvised the line about his character having a kid, which even caught Madsen off guard, who IRL, has kids himself. Tarantino liked it so much, he left it in, even though Madsen protested. Of course, QT pointed out that he was, after all, playing a total psychopath, so that maybe it wasn't such a bad idea to drive that home, given how the film is managing to have its cake and eat it, too, by having Madsen be both so likable and so scary. It's a brilliant bit of business.
I'm kind of surprised that Baltz didn't have a bigger career than he did, though, to be fair, he's worked steadily since, including roles in the QT-scripted Natural Born Killers, John Woo's bonkers Face/Off, and lots of TV. He certainly went the extra mile for this film- literally, as Baltz reportedly had Madsen drive him around in his trunk so that he could get "in character." Baltz got more than he bargained for when Madsen drove him down some blind alleys and over a bunch of potholes, lol. But the gambit obviously worked, given Baltz' resulting performance.
I'm not going to go too deep into detail on the cast- most everyone knows Harvey Keitel, Tim Roth, Michael Madsen, Chris Penn, et al. so it would be kind of pointless here. Besides, the whole point of this series is to talk about the films themselves and what they meant to me, unlike a lot of the older stuff I typically cover, where I like to talk about the casts more because they feature lesser-known actors. Such is not the case here, obviously.
However, I will give a shout-out to a few of them that remain lesser known. Edward Bunker, who plays Mr. Blue, is best-known for writing the novel No Beast So Fierce, upon which the movie Straight Time was based, and in which he appears in his movie debut. He also wrote the cult classic Runaway Train, with Eric Roberts and himself starring, and appeared in the films The Long Riders, The Running Man, Relentless, Best of the Best (also with Roberts) and its sequel, Tango & Cash and the remake of The Longest Yard, with Adam Sandler.
Lawrence Tierney, who plays the delightfully grumpy "boss" of this unruly crew, Joe, and was reportedly just as much of a handful off-screen as he is on it, was a semi-legendary character actor best-known for playing the titular role in 1945's Dillinger, about the legendary real-life gangster, who gets a shout-out in the film.
Other notable roles include San Quentin, The Devil Thumbs a Ride, Born to Kill, Kill or Be Killed, Shakedown, Best of the Badmen (in which he played Jesse James), The Greatest Show on Earth, Andy Warhol's Bad, Gloria, Arthur, the slasher favorite The Prowler, the cult classic Midnight, Stephen King's Silver Bullet, Norman Mailer's Tough Guys Don't Dance, The Naked Gun, The Horror Show, City of Hope, The Runestone, Eddie Presley, Junior, Two Days in the Valley, Southie and Armageddon.
Randy Brooks, who played Mr. Orange's trainer and mentor, Holdaway, was in the cult classic The Monkey Hu$tle, with the legendary Rudy Ray Moore (aka "Dolemite"), the goofy teen TV-movie Senior Trip, 8 Million Ways to Die, Assassination (with QT fave Charles Bronson), another gangster favorite, Colors; Defenseless, VooDoo Curse: The Giddeh, Sorority Sister Slaughter and a whole lot of TV shows.
Also keep a sharp eye out for QT's then-partner-in-crime, producer Lawrence Bender, who has bit roles in most of his films with Tarantino. This time around, he plays one of the cops chasing down Mr. Pink, aka Steve Buscemi. He's the one who comes closest to getting him in the end.
In addition, Suzanne Celeste, who plays the woman in the car that shoots Mr. Orange and he shoots back, was the British Tim Roth's dialect coach. He mentions on one of the bonus features that they both took some relish in the scene, given how torturous learning the dialect for Roth was and how much of a handful he was for Celeste. Despite this, the two would continue to work together on such films as Little Odessa, Gridlock'd (rapper Tupac's last film) and Hoodlum.
Finally, I would be remiss if I didn't mention the bang-up job done by deadpan comic Steven Wright as the DJ for the ubiquitous fictional radio station, K-Billy, home of the "Super Sounds," where "the 70's survived" that the gangsters are all so taken with. (Well, save Mr. Orange, who's more of a country fan, as it turns out.) You can hear Wright doing hilarious various takes on his line readings of QT's material on one of the bonus features, as a cackling Tarantino ags him on. His stand-up comedy is well-worth a listen as well.
As for that music, the famed soundtrack is indeed a keeper, though the newer material is a bit meh, i.e. rando band Bedlam, a Nashville-based band that MCA, the label which put out the soundtrack, were trying to promote at the time, a common occurance on film soundtracks in the 90's and early 2000's.
Stick with the original version of Steppenwolf's Magic Carpet Ride, though the cover version is fine. Given the limited use of the band's two songs, I suspect QT wasn't much of a fan, either, and just included them to make the label happy.
As for the rest, the country charmer "Fool for Love," by Sandy Rogers notwithstanding (originally the title track for the Altman movie of the same name), which is fine, the rest is all 70's AM radio-type gold, from start to finish, beginning with the infectiously catchy (and way obscure) "Little Green Bag," by the George Baker Selection.
Fun fact: QT originally wanted to use Pink Floyd's classic "Money" for the opening, but couldn't afford it. Indeed, he initially spent all his soundtrack funds on the infamous "Stuck in the Middle with You," but his producers managed to finagle a deal with MCA in exchange for a large chunk of the resulting record profits- which turned out to be a great move on their part, given the soundtrack's ongoing success over the years. (This is another reason why Bedlam was probably snuck into the mix, as they were signed to MCA's label.)
On another bonus feature, singer-songwriter Gerry Rafferty (of "Baker Street" fame) admits he was tickled by the reaction the resurrection of his old band Stealers Wheel's "Stuck in the Middle With You" received, and that he didn't really read the script beforehand, although it was sent to him, and just approved it sight unseen. So, you can imagine his reaction when he was told and later saw for himself how it was used in the film!
Another fun fact: QT seriously considered using Sweet's "Ballroom Blitz" for the scene, which, as discussed in my previous article, was prominently featured in his first stab at filmmaking, My Best Friend's Birthday. While undeniably a great catchy song in its own right, the vibe of that song would have changed the tone of the scene entirely, as it's more of a balls-out rocker.
By going with "Stuck," which is such a laid-back, easy-going tune, the juxtaposition between the song and what's actually going on in the scene undeniably works like gangbusters. Plus, it's hard to imagine Madsen doing a little dance to "She thinks she's the passionate one!" Lol.
I also loved that QT chose the completely bizarre rendition of "Hooked on a Feeling" by Blue Swede, over the more straightforward standard version by BJ Thomas, and chose the more obscure Joe Tex's "I Gotcha" to score the cop's beatdown over, say, James Brown, which is who the song most sounds like.
Finally, the oddball "Coconut," by singer-songwriter Harry Nilsson is the perfect send-off for this irreverent film. It's goofy as hell and shouldn't work, given how tragic the ending of the film is, but it perfectly illustrates that we're not watching the typical gangster film.
Also, as Rolling Stone's Peter Travers notes on a commentary track, the line "Doctor, is there nothing I can take/To relieve this belly ache" brilliantly reflects Mr. Orange's specific circumstances of slowly dying from a shot to the gut. I'm guessing that wasn't by accident.
It's quirky selections like that which make this soundtrack stand out over more typical fare at the time, as well as QT's use of dialogue samples integrated into the soundtrack, which was not a common practice at the time, but would become one with a lot of people moving forward.
While not perfect, it would certainly set the stage for the other soundtracks to come for QT's films, with Pulp Fiction and Natural Born Killers undeniably perfecting the experience of reliving the film via the soundtrack by combining dialogue from the film with the film's music.
Some have declared Reservoir Dogs a near-perfect debut as well, with others maintaining that QT never made a better film. Modern audiences might see it as the end-all-be-all of toxic masculinity and the deadly ends it can lead to, and there's no denying that this is one of the ultimate "guy movies." Some of the language is still a bit jarring as well, admittedly, such as the copious use of the "N" word and the inherent misogyny of most of the characters.
I just love the film and it certainly had a huge impact on me personally and my tastes in film moving forward, as I immediately started watching the films I heard it compared to, but I wouldn't necessarily go as far as to say it was QT's overall best. It is, however, a great depiction of male camaraderie and the ways men posture and preen to become liked and respected by other men.
In short, it's great, and the way it's formatted in a non-linear fashion does a genius job of encouraging and rewarding future re-watches, but to me, QT wouldn't perfect his intended formula until Pulp Fiction. (More on that one later, obviously.)
Still, as an opening salvo as a filmmaker, it just doesn't get a lot better than this. It may not be his best film, but it's arguably one of the best, most outrageous debuts ever. With this film, cinema had a new voice, and it was quite unlike any other that had come before it- and remarkably, Tarantino was just getting warmed up.
Join me next week, as we deal with some of QT's "orphan" scripts, True Romance and Natural Born Killers, which is to say, the scripts he saw fit to sell to other directors, in part to finance this film, as well as to form the building block for what would prove to be his big breakthrough, the triumphant Pulp Fiction.
Thanks for reading, and be sure to comment here or on social media! 😉
No comments:
Post a Comment