Reservoir Dogs
Jun. 10th, 2014 04:44 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
ivyficIn continuing adventures of watching 90s movies I missed the first time around: Reservoir Dogs. I remember this being such a huge movie. My brother had the poster. Steelers Wheels on the radio all the time.
Perhaps unsurprisingly: I did not like it. I found the violence very distancing. I'd seen bits of and spoofs of the most famous scene before, so the shock value was lessened. Even so, I didn't know much else about it. So things like Tim Roth's protracted screaming just made it a really unpleasant viewing experience over all.
I also thought it was--really amateur? Like, ridiculously self-indulgent. No one but a white man would have made this film. There's both the appropriation of black language and the use of racist language in a way that makes it clear Tarantino feels entitled to write incredibly racist things because art without consideration for the cultural context in which he, and this film, exist. It's also a film that wants to make you conscious of the man behind the camera at all times. The purpose of the film seems to be to point a spotlight on the director and show how clever and edgy he is. And I'm with John Gardner: anything that punctures the fictive dream is a bad thing. I don't want to have a meta awareness when I'm watching a movie; I want to be immersed in.
I found the pacing to be sloppy, too. It's just...flabby. Compared to The Usual Suspects and The Killing, two other noir crime movies, Reservoir Dogs just sort of dicks around. I mean, it felt like watching Tarantino wank.
I know it's his first film, and I liked Pulp Fiction, so I know he gets better, but I really don't think Reservoir Dogs deserves its accolades.
Perhaps unsurprisingly: I did not like it. I found the violence very distancing. I'd seen bits of and spoofs of the most famous scene before, so the shock value was lessened. Even so, I didn't know much else about it. So things like Tim Roth's protracted screaming just made it a really unpleasant viewing experience over all.
I also thought it was--really amateur? Like, ridiculously self-indulgent. No one but a white man would have made this film. There's both the appropriation of black language and the use of racist language in a way that makes it clear Tarantino feels entitled to write incredibly racist things because art without consideration for the cultural context in which he, and this film, exist. It's also a film that wants to make you conscious of the man behind the camera at all times. The purpose of the film seems to be to point a spotlight on the director and show how clever and edgy he is. And I'm with John Gardner: anything that punctures the fictive dream is a bad thing. I don't want to have a meta awareness when I'm watching a movie; I want to be immersed in.
I found the pacing to be sloppy, too. It's just...flabby. Compared to The Usual Suspects and The Killing, two other noir crime movies, Reservoir Dogs just sort of dicks around. I mean, it felt like watching Tarantino wank.
I know it's his first film, and I liked Pulp Fiction, so I know he gets better, but I really don't think Reservoir Dogs deserves its accolades.
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Date: 2014-06-11 04:23 am (UTC)Haha, that's an excellent use of language there. But yeah, I agree. Tarantino films are all a bit lax when it comes to overall plot or structure. They tend to be compilations of entertaining (if violent) short pieces. Reservoir Dogs just didn't have as memorable skits as Tarantino's better works, and the violence:entertainment ratio was higher than I appreciate.