Reservoir Dogs Literary Elements

Reservoir Dogs Literary Elements

Director

Quentin Tarantino

Leading Actors/Actresses

Harvey Keitel, Tim Roth, Michael Madsen, Steve Buscemi, Chris Penn

Supporting Actors/Actresses

Lawrence Tierney, Randy Brooks, Quentin Tarantino, Kirk Baltz, Edward Bunker

Genre

Crime, Drama, Thriller

Language

English

Awards

Film Independent Spirit Awards - Won Best Supporting Actor (Steven Buscemi), Nominated Best Director and Best First Feature

Date of Release

1992

Producer

Lawrence Bender

Setting and Context

Los Angeles present day 1992

Narrator and Point of View

Each chapter relates to a new character's point of view, Mr. White, Mr. Blond and Mr. Orange.

Tone and Mood

Serious, Violent, Darkly Humorous

Protagonist and Antagonist

Mr. White, Mr. Orange are the protagonists and Mr. Pink and Mr. Blonde are the main antagonists

Major Conflict

There is a rat in the midst of the crew who just attempted a diamond heist, and no one knows who it is.

Climax

Joe, Mr. White and Eddie all shoot each other over the identity of Mr. Orange. Mr. White finds out that Mr. Orange was the rat after defending him.

Foreshadowing

Mr. White says that Mr. Blonde should not be left alone with the cop in the warehouse because he's a lunatic. They let him stay with the cop and he ends up torturing him, leading to his death and the eventual deaths of everyone in the crew.

Understatement

Tarantino understates the loyalty that Mr. Blonde has to Joe and Eddie until after Mr. Orange kills him.

Innovations in Filming or Lighting or Camera Techniques

Tarantino recalling shots from films he admires and grouping them together to create his own style in his film.

Allusions

Holdaway's speech to Freddy about how to learn his 'Commode Story' allude to Hamlet's speech to the players.

Paradox

This film's violence drew a lot of attention, but paradoxically it has just as much humor in it as well.

Parallelism

The opening scene with the crew 'prepping' before the heist parallels Freddy (Mr. Orange) 'prepping' to work in Joe's crew with Holdaway in a separate diner.

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