Reservoir Dogs Mise en Scene Analysis
by Kyle Jennings
In this extremely gory 1992 neo noir film directed by Quentin Tarantino, Reservoir Dogs, audiences get a great look at the inside of a crime operation. When a bank heist goes terribly wrong, the thieves know there must have been a rat. In this scene one of the criminals, Mr. Blonde played by Michael Madson, tortures a police officer, played by Kirk Baltz, they took hostage in order to find information about who the rat could possibly be. This scene is quite possibly one of the most gory scenes in the entire film. Quentin Tarantino makes this scene even more horrid by using situational irony with the music. While this police officer is getting sliced up with a straight razor, Mr. Blonde is dancing to the song “stuck in the middle with you” by Stealers Wheel. Although this scene is gruesome and hard to watch, Tarantino uses very interesting visual design elements, camera techniques, and editing techniques in order to amplify the horror of this scene.
Quentin Tarantino uses many common visual design techniques in subtle ways in order to make this scene even more horrid than it would be otherwise. The set design of this scene has a very cold feel to it. The walls of the warehouse where this scene takes place are stone bricks. There are chains dangling ominously from the ceiling. The scene is lit very dimly with only a few cold metal lights. These aspects of this scene make it actually feel like a torture chamber. The cold, hard walls; dangling ominous chains; and sparse, dim lighting make the audience feel uncomfortable, like they are with the torturer and the “torturee” in this evil, cruel warehouse. Another aspect of this set’s design that creates a dark and depressing feel is the color palette. Tarantino uses a specific dark color palette for this scene. The only colors you can see inside this warehouse are either dark or bland colors. The walls are grayish white, there are shadows all over the dark gray cement floors, and the items in the background are all brown, black, or white colors. The only color that stands out in this scene is the bright red blood on the face of the police officer, and on Mr. Orange’s body and face. This blood could be symbolic of either being a rat or being innocent. Although the other criminals do not know it yet, Mr. Orange is actually the rat. Mr. Orange is an undercover police officer. Mr. Orange and the police officer are the only things in this scene that have any sort of bright color on them. This is most likely symbolic of them both being innocent police officers. The dark colors in the background contrast the striking red of blood on the two men. This makes the warehouse feel cold and unforgiving and makes the audience feel uncomfortable-as if they themselves were being tortured.
Tarantino uses camera techniques, or cinematography, in order to create a feeling of hatred towards Mr. Blonde, and one of sympathy for the police officer. Tarantino positions the camera in specific ways in order for us to feel sympathy for the police officer in this scene. He uses the same technique that our class saw in the scene from Finding Forrester. At the start of this scene, you see this technique used very effectively. You get a close-up shot with the police officer so that you can see the fear in his face. On the other end however, Mr. Blonde is shot from a long shot perspective to make the audience feel like he is distant and not relatable. This makes the audience feel closer to the police officer because they can see his emotions and are literally closer to him than Mr. Blonde. Another camera technique used in this scene is the use of low angle shots. When the camera is behind the police officer, it is pointing up looking at Mr. Blonde as he stands taller than the police officer. This helps the audience understand that Mr. Blonde is in a position of power in this scene, and that he will have power over the police officer.
The final technique Tarantino uses in this scene is editing. In this scene Tarantino uses some extremely long takes in order for us to feel hatred for Mr. Blonde. From 2:05-3:28 is just one scene. This is an extremely long take that really gives the scene almost a relaxed feel, despite what is going on. The camera’s slow, smooth movements in a scene almost a minute and a half really makes Mr. Blonde seem very relaxed. The fact that he can be so relaxed while doing such an evil, cruel thing portrays him as a psychopath. Any normal person could not cut an ear off of a living creature and joke and dance while they do so. This makes Mr. Blonde seem distant and even more cruel than we initially thought, just because of the slow and long camera movement. Another camera technique Tarantino uses is a panning technique. When Mr. Orange is shooting Mr. Blonde at 4:29, the camera does not sit still, but rather it moves from one side of Mr. Orange to the other. This adds motion to the scene and makes it seem much more intense than it actually is. If the camera was sitting still watching Mr. Orange shoot Mr. Blonde, it wouldn’t be nearly as exciting as this panning shot. This technique adds motion to a scene that has almost no motion at all in it. Mr. Orange is shooting the gun while he is laying on the ground in one spot. Mr. Blonde is being shot while standing still. Although this scene has no movement in it, this panning technique gives the audience a sense of excitement and motion. This technique really gets the audience more into the movie, because most audience members don't want to watch a completely still action scene.
Although these examples are just scraping the surface of what symbols and film techniques Tarantino puts into his films, these three big aspects of this scene really make it what it is. It is an exciting, emotional, cringeworthy, bloody, action packed scene that is created using these special film techniques. Although you may not notice these aspects of the film while watching it, these aspects have an effect on your subconscious. They may make you dislike one character or sympathize with another without even realizing why that is. Reservoir Dogs has many of these small details that make a movie wonderful.
