On the QT - Part 3

Hey I’m a poet and I didn’t know that I was one.

Right, so for those of you following my series of Quentin Tarantino reviews coming up to the release of his long awaited war epic “Inglorious Basterds“, I give you the third part from where I left off here.

This time I’m focusing on a close contender for the top spot in my favourite QT movies - “Reservoir Dogs“

Why did I skip this 1992 release and jump to a 1993 release “True Romance”?

Oh so many reasons.

Firstly because in my opinion “True Romance” kind of slipped under the radar as far as people were concerned with Quentin Tarantino. Coming inbetween “Reservoir Dogs” and “Pulp Fiction”, it may have been lost in the shock and hype of the former and the expectation of the latter.

“Reservoir Dogs” was when the world sat up and took notice of this former video store clerk and his story of a heist that never showed the heist. It jumped back and forward in it’s timeline and jolted audiences everywhere to realise that there was more than one way to tell a story.

Of course there was contraversy about the violence and language in the film, but producers and Quentin himself went blue in the face explaining that it all happened in context. They weren’t making a film about petty car thieves who make it up as they go along, they were telling a story of seasoned criminals. Seasoned criminals use bad language, guns and if needs be, torture cops.

Ah, that scene.

Like I’ve said before there’s not much point in doing actual reviews of these movies, chances are you’ve seen them already and I don’t want to step on anyone’s toes here at Culch! The point was more to look at how his style of writing and movie making has grown, developed and influenced others.

But that scene.

The soundtrack was also a sit up and take notice item in the movie, because it had it’s very own unique contribution to the film. Instead of just using songs wherever he thought they might suit, it was the first time that Quentin used music that made people want the soundtrack as much as the film itself. Using stand up comedian Steve Wright as the voice of K Billy, the DJ who loved 70′s music, each song received it’s own introduction.

Having a radio station featured occasionally meant that the music felt natural in it’s placement, as it is in life, and not just stuck in because the director happened to like it. I happen to think that it was all 70′s music because the royalties may have been cheaper for the licences. A good reason to use them in a low budget film, but I may be wrong.

A wide selection of music from soul, country and rock makes a soundtrack worth having in your collection.

Which brings me to that scene.

“You gonna bark all day little doggy, or are you gonna bite?”

Cue the music of Joe Tex’s “I gotcha” and one of the most famous cops in film history is hurled into the gangster’s hideout. Tied to a chair by Mr Blond (Michael Madsen), while the other gangsters pop out for a bit, he taunts the cop.

He turns on the radio and on comes K Billy playing Steeler’s Wheels’ “Stuck in the middle”. His slightly sad dance to it adds a little light relief to what’s about to happen.

Mr Blond dances a bit, straddles the cop and before we can wince, the camera pans away leaving us listening to screams of agony. Just on cue, Mr Blond walks back into frame holding a bloodied ear in one hand and his cut throat blade in another. It all happens in a single take without camera change or cut which makes it all the more believeable in the moment.

Telling the cop to shut up, he talks into the ear he’s just hacked off and laughs to himself before tossing the ear across the room.

That scene.

That scene was probably what had the “Somebody think of the children” brigade up in arms. Yes it’s gory and gratuitous, but that’s the fun. Get over it. We never see it happening and the fact that we don’t see it and it can still cause such a huge reaction pays tribute to a director who knew exactly what he was doing before he shot day one.

The cast is great, and that’s understating it.

More than likely helped by the fact that Harvey Keitel signed on as producer/performer early on, but whatever the reasons actors like Chris Penn, Steve Buscemi and Tim Roth all joined the fun as well as QT himself.

This is a film I can sit down and watch over and over again for so many reasons, most listed above.

It’s a heist story without the heist, as we focus on the planning of what should have been a simple job and the aftermath of what should have been a simple job, gone wrong. The heist wasn’t left out due to budget or filming restrictions, it was never meant to be shot at all. After all, we’d seen a million bank/jewellery store robberies in a million films before.

The fact that the violence etc was so focused on by critics and fans alike was probably why he kept the story telling technique of jumping within the timeline for his next outing as writer/director - “Pulp Fiction”.

Maybe if the violence distracted from what may have been seen as an experimental story telling technique by some, he could do it again and the audience wouldn’t even notice.

No such luck…..