Reservoir Dogs: Listen closely to Michael Madsen at 59 minutes and 53 seconds. Did you notice this little reference to a movie classic?

Everyone knows: Quentin Tarantino is one of the most cinephilic directors. A true film buff and former video club employee, he knows his classics well. So it’s no surprise that the characters in his own films sometimes include a wink or a reference to a movie monument in a line of dialogue.

For example, this is the case of Mr. Blond, a completely psychopathic and sadistic gangster played by Michael Madsen in Reservoir Dogs. As you can see by (re)discovering the original version of Tarantino’s first film, before filming, the character quickly inserts a short line from The Wizard of Oz (which, according to research, is Italian. The most influential film in Western cinema).

To hear the quote in question, you’ll have to listen (which Mr. Blondie’s unfortunate interlocutor, unfortunately, can’t really do anymore) at 59 minutes and 53 seconds into the featurette. After completing his brutal torture, the gangster pours gasoline on his victim and prepares to throw a lit lighter in his direction. It is there that he utters the following words: “Set fire, horror!” (“Here’s the fire, the horror!”)

As all fans of the 1946 director Victor Fleming have pointed out, this is more or less the line spoken by the witch at the end of the film when she lights the straw with her broom to threaten her. horror. Note, however, that Mr. Blond makes a slight mistake here, as the exact sentence is: – How about a small fire, scary? (– How do you say fire, horror?)

It should also be noted that in the French version of the film, you will not hear the famous message, because it has not been preserved. Indeed, in French, the hero simply says: “It will do you good, it will warm you up.”

This little reference to The Wizard of Oz is just one of many references to other cinematic works (more or less advanced) found in Quentin Tarantino’s filmography.

(Re)discover the errors and mistakes of “Reservoir Dogs”…