“Trust me”: the legendary ‘Reservoir Dogs’ scene Quentin Tarantino fought for his life to keep
To say that the landscape of American cinema was changed by Quentin Tarantino in the 1990s would be an understatement. Through the likes of Reservoir Dogs, Pulp Fiction and Jackie Brown, he ushered in a groundbreaking shift that created major waves on a global scale, as directors from around the world were rushing to imitate his stylistic approach and capitalise on its popularity.
While Tarantino continued adding beloved and acclaimed gems to his filmography through the decades, it was 1992’s Reservoir Dogs that set everything in motion. Right from his debut feature, Tarantino wasn’t afraid to espouse the hyperviolent aesthetics of the filmmakers he loved the most and it resulted in a crime flick that defied categorisation.
Featuring acting legends such as Harvey Keitel, Tim Roth, Steve Buscemi and more, Reservoir Dogs subverted the conventions of the heist genre by focusing on its aftermath instead of the act. With the members of the makeshift criminal team named after colours, it almost felt like it was the materialisation of a concept that rallied against the tired clichés Hollywood was still trying to push and brought in a different way of thinking about “action” and “cinematic thrill”.
Although the tension between the criminals, the constant threat of death and the thrilling allusions to eventual destruction keep the audience on the edge of their seats, Reservoir Dogs is a minimalist film through and through. In fact, the minimalist aspect was so evident during its filming that some studio executives actually feared that it verged on theatre territory and could not be shot in a cinematic way.
During a conversation with Film Comment, Tarantino was asked about the iconic scene with Buscemi and Keitel, which feels like it was filmed on an empty stage, just before Michael Madsen pops up. While it’s now one of the most iconic moments in Reservoir Dogs, according to the American auteur, that segment almost ended up on the cutting room floor.
Tarantino revealed: “That was actually a problem [when] trying to get the film made. People would read it and go, ‘Well, this isn’t a movie, this is a play, why don’t you try and do it in an Equity Waiver house?’ I was like, ‘No, no, no, trust me, it’ll be cinematic.’ I don’t like most film versions of plays, but the reason I had it all take place in that one room was because I figured that would be the easiest way to shoot something.”
He added: “To me, the most important thing was that it be cinematic. Now, having said that, one of the things I get a big kick out of in Reservoir Dogs is that it plays with theatrical elements in a cinematic form—it is contained, the tension isn’t dissipated, it’s supposed to mount, the characters aren’t able to leave, and the whole movie’s definitely performance-driven. Both my films are completely performance-driven; they’re almost cut to the rhythm of performance.”
Tarantino was definitely right in focusing on the performances of his stellar cast and their relationship with the visual language of the film. What he managed to create with a warehouse, genre subversions, talented actors, and an innovatively planned soundtrack easily outstrips countless bloated big-budget studio blockbusters, resulting in an explosion of copycats everywhere.
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