Dog City.

Rating: 10/10 (31 January 2013)

Checking my local cinema times for the showings of Tom Hooper's take on Victor Hugo's Les Miserables,I was shocked to discover that the cinema was planning to hold a one off special screening of Writer/director/actor Quentin Tarantino's debut:Reservoir Dogs.
With still having bright memories from seeing Tarantino's wonderful Spaghetti Western Django Unchained,and also being a fan of Pulp Fiction since watching it on DVD in 2003,I decided that it would be the perfect time to take a look at Tarantino's debut,with the added bonus of getting to see the dogs "go to work" on the big screen.
The plot:
Pulling fellow gangster Mr.Orange out of his car and dragging him to the gangs hideaway location at a disused warehouse,Mr.White (who had earlier revealed to Mr "Freddy" Orange that his real name was Larry) puts the shot in the stomach Mr.Orange on the ground as he begins to try and gather up his senses.
As Larry starts to think of how he can get Freddy to a doctor without them getting caught out,he also begins to wonder how such a simple jewellery store heist could have gone so horribly wrong.With the heist ending up with two out of the eight gangsters being shot by police who oddly seemed prepared for their arrival.
Interputing the sole sounds of Mr.Orange's agonising screams,fellow surviving gangster Mr.Pink arrives bursting through the doors.Giving Freddy and Larry the news that he does not have a clue where the other surviving members of the gang are,Pink tells them the only good news that has come out of this disaster, which is that he was just about able to keep hold of the stolen diamonds.
Furious about how the police shot their simple heist to pieces,Mr. Orange,White and Pink start to become increasingly uneasy around each other,when Pink tells Orange and White that the only way the cops could have been so well prepared for their arrival,was if one of the loyal "gang" was in fact,an undercover cop.
View on the film:
Smartly having the gangs pop-culture riffing dialogue in the flashback scenes of the film as a way to allow audience members to build a connection to the fun,easy going gang,and to also show the loyalty and trust that each gangster has with each other.
The screenplay by writer/director/actor Quentin Tarantino (with Roger Avary being credited with writing the catchy "radio" dialogue) uses the warehouse setting to shut all of the breezy,carefree times that the gang had been having "outside",to instead be replaced by a strong Neo- Noir feel.With the claustrophobic setting of the warehouse leading to all of the loyalties crumbling,as each gang member starts to suspect the other of being a hidden rat amongst the thrives.
Along with bravely deciding to not show the heist itself,but to instead focus on the after effects of it,Tarantino superbly uses long, stylish gliding shots for the pre-warehouse scenes to initially show the tight "round table" bond that all of the gangsters have with each other,to slowly increasing the speed of the long shots,to create an intense,gritty atmosphere,as each gang member finds the union to have disintegrated,and only being left with the option to shoot their way out of a corner and into survival.
Keeping with the theme of giving the viewer just enough information so as to come to their own conclusions,Tarantino uses cold,long distance isolated shots in the warehouse to show with an unflinching eye the doubt and pent-up anger which is starting to build within each of the former loyal "gang".
Contrasting the isolated infighting shots,Tarantino uses short,sharp,shots to hit the audience with pummelling shots of violence,as he perfectly choose the right moment to flinch the violence away from the camera,so that the viewer is allowed to make their own mind up about what the most aggressive attack,and bitter ending fully look like.
Being one of the main people credited with helping to get the film on the big screen,Harvey Keitel gives a brilliant,heartfelt performance Mr "Larry" White.Despite seeing all the lies right in front of him,Keitel shows that Larry is unable to accept that "the old ways" are now long gone,until it is far to late.
Joining with Keitel,Michael Madsen gives a career defining performance as the sadistic Mr.Blonde,whilst Steve Buscemi hits everyone of Tarantino's sarcastic swipes with expert delivery,whilst Tim Roth shows the laying on the floor Mr. "Freddy" Orange to be developing an increasing sense of fear as he witnesses the gang tear itself apart,and begin to relies that every dog has its day.