0:09 I don't think that it would be
0:11 controversial to say that Reservoir Dogs
0:14 is a simple story it focuses on a half
0:15 dozen criminals holed up in a warehouse
0:17 after a jewelry heist goes terribly
0:19 wrong and they're cutting between the
0:21 aftermath but also be set up in the
0:24 heist itself this choice to enter cut
0:25 rather than have the narrative play
0:29 linearly serves a few purposes first and
0:31 perhaps most importantly it allows for
0:33 big reveals and this is a movie full of
0:36 reveals if for example we went into the
0:37 heist knowing that mr. orange was an
0:40 undercover cop have a student gem take a
0:41 big fat guess of insanity
0:43 who had changed not only our perception
0:46 of him but also the other characters but
0:48 purely on a more technical level I think
0:50 the nonlinear structure serves two
0:53 purposes first to build and maintain
0:55 momentum and second to introduce and
0:58 develop characters today I would like to
1:00 examine how Reservoir Dogs uses these
1:02 two elements momentum and its characters
1:05 to enhance its story and forever leave
1:08 its mark on filmmaking first I want to
1:10 discuss how the film uses its nonlinear
1:11 structure to reveal information which
1:14 keeps the momentum rising I'd say that
1:16 there are three major adrenaline moments
1:18 mr. orange in the back of the car
1:20 bleeding out mr. orange shooting and
1:22 killing mr. blonde in the final Mexican
1:25 standoff these are high intense moments
1:28 in an otherwise tame movie okay tame
1:30 probably wasn't the best word but what I
1:32 really mean is that this is a movie that
1:34 holds back and now you probably think
1:35 I'm crazy because this is a movie or
1:42 I'm saying that this is a movie that
1:44 folds back but think about the ear
1:46 cutting scene itself we don't see the
1:48 act and we don't need to we know exactly
1:50 what is going on but just minutes later
1:55 where mr. orange kills mr. blonde the
1:57 impact feels so much more real because
1:59 we actually get to see the act and this
2:01 is the trend that we see throughout the
2:03 entire movie only showing enough to keep
2:05 our attention we hear more about the
2:08 actual heist than we see of it I turn
2:09 around and all these cops are outside
2:12 took a cop hostages to get the [ __ ] out
2:13 of there and this is the movie that
2:15 demands your complete attention every
2:17 scene is full of dialogue some
2:19 conversations are essential to following
2:21 the story while others are well
2:31 Tarantino being Tarantino but whenever
2:33 these story starts to slow down
2:35 Tarantino will often flashback to an
2:43 the three aforementioned moments served
2:45 to bookend the film's to acts because
2:48 risk for dogs is a two-act film act one
2:51 asks and answers the question who is the
2:53 cop I know
2:54 well Act two focuses on the
2:57 ramifications of this being revealed now
3:00 this is undeniably a very simple set up
3:02 but it's effective and the reason why it
3:04 works so well is that Reservoir Dogs
3:06 isn't about the narrative it's about its
3:09 characters and with that I want to break
3:12 down an examine before major characters
3:15 mr. orange proves to be the most
3:17 important character in the film
3:18 each of these three narrative beats
3:20 revolves around him he creates the
3:26 central conflict after he is shot and
3:28 introduces the moral question of should
3:31 we help him even though it may hurt us
3:33 in the second act he introduces yet
3:35 another moral quandary his storyline
3:38 asks the question is he better than the
3:40 people around him at first I answer it
3:42 seemed like a definitive yes the
3:45 undercover cop is certainly a stronger
3:47 moral figure than the criminals that he
3:49 surrounds himself with but the film
4:02 while mr. orange may convince himself
4:04 that everything he does is for the
4:06 greater good of society when he is put
4:08 into action he proves to be just as
4:11 heartless as those around him he shoots
4:12 and kills a woman trying to defend
4:18 herself in her car from being stolen he
4:20 becomes so engrossed in his role the
4:22 villain that he ultimately becomes one
4:24 he is brought out of his comfort zone
4:27 and behaves irrationally in a great
4:30 article dr. J Richard PhD diagnoses mr.
4:31 orange is someone with narcissistic
4:34 personality disorder essentially saying
4:36 that mr. orange pushes his world too far
4:38 and he loses part of himself
4:40 Richard writes that mr. orange is the
4:43 great impostor he master trickster the
4:46 bluffer a Machiavellian the film is set
4:47 in LA near Hollywood the capital of
4:49 illusion were thousands of people
4:50 dedicate themselves to great
4:52 performances every day
4:54 now I don't want to dive too deep into
4:56 the meaning of his assigned color is the
4:58 arm but given his role in my enforcement
5:01 might be easy to change mr. orange to
5:03 Agent Orange a weapon that was intended
5:05 to stop bad people but ended up doing
5:08 more harm to society I don't mean for
5:09 this to turn into a discussion of the
5:12 Vietnam War but I do feel like it's an
5:16 apt comparison mr. pink may be the best
5:18 criminal of the lodge we're supposed to
5:20 be [ __ ] professionals I think the
5:22 tipping conversation from the opening
5:24 scene helps reveal a lot about his character
5:25 character
5:28 he doesn't have sympathy for others he's
5:29 willing to chip when others do an
5:31 exceptional job all right I mean I'll
5:32 sip if somebody really deserves a tip if
5:34 they really put forth the effort I'll
5:35 give him something extra but I mean this
5:37 tipping automatically is for the birds
5:39 over the most part his concern is with
5:42 himself he's one to panic and he likes
5:44 to have his bases covered so when things
5:46 go wrong he is brought out of his
5:46 comfort zone
5:49 however even when he is uncomfortable he
5:51 still behaves rationally and this
5:53 happens in a few ways first he hasn't
6:01 trust the other members this still puts
6:03 him in a conundrum because he needs to
6:05 trust the other criminals to an extent
6:07 if he wants to survive and make it out
6:09 of the current situation for him it's
6:11 all about finding leverage wherever he
6:13 can he's also the only one who knows
6:15 where the diamonds are this further
6:16 complicates everything for the other
6:18 criminals because they know that they
6:21 need him in the end he's able to best
6:23 the other criminals at first he tries to
6:29 de-escalate the situation attempting to
6:31 talk down to criminals after that
6:33 grooves to be unsuccessful he does the
6:36 last thing that he can hides and cleans
6:37 up the mess that everyone else started
6:44 and he would have gotten away if not for
6:46 the one thing he didn't account for the
6:52 police mr. white can be described as the
6:54 professional criminal you're supposed to
6:57 have like a [ __ ] professional
6:59 psychopath a new profession he
7:01 understands right from wrong has a very
7:03 defined set of morals the thing is his
7:10 morals are very unconventional he's
7:11 someone who from a very young age has
7:14 been exposed to violence not his moral
7:16 compass change to reflect it he is loyal
7:18 to a fault to his fellow criminals and a
7:20 risk his own life to try and protect mr.
7:23 orange someone who he cares for and
7:29 trusts at the same time he is someone
7:30 who is more than willing to brutally
7:32 kill police officers who stand in his way
7:33 way [Music]
7:38 he also has no loyalty to mr. blonde
7:41 someone who he views the liability to
7:43 the mission mr. white has been raised
7:45 since a very young age to be the perfect
7:47 tool for a heist like this he's cool
7:49 calm and collected but more than willing
7:51 to do anything and everything when
8:07 needed psychologist Robert D hare uses
8:09 Reservoir Dogs as as example to compare
8:11 Psychopaths and sociopaths
8:13 according to hare mr. white is a
8:15 psychopath someone who is professional
8:18 and loyal but willing to do inhumane
8:20 things for the betterment of the group
8:23 and for the betterment of himself mr.
8:25 blonde on the other hand is a sociopath
8:27 someone who enjoys killing and enjoys
8:30 torture and enjoys living in chaos he
8:33 has no regard for anybody but himself I
8:35 think it would be safe to assume that
8:36 during his time in prison something
8:39 changed with him he snapped and became
8:40 unglued something which ultimately
8:42 becomes his downfall
8:45 his chaotic personality doesn't work in
8:47 a cohesive group the rest tried to be
8:49 synergetic and together he strives for
8:51 the exact opposite because he thrives
8:54 best and chaos all four of these
8:56 characters and all the rest of the
8:57 characters we see in the films of that
8:59 matter are incredibly different from one
9:02 another what are the biggest critiques I
9:04 read of Tarantino's films is that all of
9:06 his characters act and talk the same way
9:08 a little bit like camps and while it is
9:11 undeniably true to an extent the biggest
9:12 reason why I feel like ways where our
9:14 dogs work so well so we are presented
9:16 with a group of very different
9:18 characters in a confined space all
9:20 trying to out think and out survive the other
9:21 other
9:23 and that's all that this movie is a
9:25 simple setup that allows for a complex
9:28 outcome everything serves this one
9:31 purpose driving conflict and creating an
9:40 unforgettable cinematic experience hey
9:42 everyone I hope you enjoyed Reservoir
9:44 Dogs is one of those movies that I'll
9:46 often come back to and just have on in
9:47 the background alone doing something
9:49 else but when you sit down and really
9:52 focus on it it becomes clear how all
9:53 these pieces fit with one another and
9:56 work together so well if it's been a
9:57 while since you last watched it I
10:00 certainly encourage you to revisit it it
10:02 really holds up well but also to mention
10:03 that this video is made possible because
10:06 of patreon if you're interested in
10:07 supporting the channel this is the best
10:09 way to do so there are a lot of great
10:11 rewards over there including early
10:13 access a bonus audio commentary and even
10:15 getting a say in what videos come next
10:17 so if you're interested there's a link
10:19 on-screen there's also a link to my last
10:21 video in which I looked at Chinatown and
10:23 why that's the greatest screenplay of
10:25 all time so if you're interested in that
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