As I was contemplating on the film, I kept going back to the scene where Mr. Orange (undercover cop) put on a wedding ring although there is no indication of him having a wife. On a side note, the ring must not have been related to him being undercover since it is buried in a bowl full of change.
Thinking back there is only one woman in the entire movie, the woman who the men steal the car from to get away from the cops. My question is, was the presence of women in this move minimal because the story was based on men or because the context of the film was too horrific?
*I was reading some background on the film and came across a source that said there was originally a female cop cast, but all the scenes that included her were cut.
I was wondering about the ring as well. Maybe his character had a wife? Maybe it wasn't a wedding band but some super cool skull ring that gangsters wear to show how bad ass they are? Class ring?
ReplyDeleteAs for the women question, my guess would be they Tarantino couldn't fit a woman into the movie (other than the deleted scenes). He was working on a super small budget, and there wasn't really a whole lot of places to add another character (A waitress maybe?). Anyway, a few of the characters barely got any time themselves. Tarantino hasn't shied away from women in bloody sequences, that is for sure. Some of his most bad ass characters are women. It was a different time, sure, but my guess would be lack of time/space/funds in the movie.
Maybe the ring was part of Mr.Orange's character and not of the cop. That was an interesting scene.
ReplyDeleteI also agree that the lack of presence of women in this film could be the small budget. Though maybe an argument could be made that Orange is the "woman" of the film. Maybe even an homme fatale, a mysterious man with a secret and brings about the death of the group, though we aren't certain of a few deaths since we don't see them on film.
I agree with Juan. Right before Mr. Orange left he was checking himself out in the mirror making sure his persona was intact and believable if that. He is putting on a show as an undercover cop/actor in my opinion, and actors need props since the props help make the show. He is fooling everybody by his image alone, so each and every detail even the simplest of things(like a ring) are used to depict Mr. Orange's character even fuller making it more convincing.
DeleteI think putting it in the bowl of change would help scratch it making it appear older and more realistic to people who see it. There could be a number of reasons why he wore it, he could have even told the gangsters that he just wears it to make people he plans to rob more trusting of him.
ReplyDeleteVery interesting. Much like the ring worn in Double Indemnity.
DeleteIt's not the context. Seriously zombies in Dawn of the Dead and Francine.
ReplyDeleteI think it's more because he didn't want to put women in the film; I don't think it really mattered to him to have that element.
The ring just makes Mr. Orange a little more mysterious and leaves the viewer with another unanswered question.
I like Isaac's explanation. I think it adds a rust element to his character. I think the lack of female characters may have been budget, but I think it was more to do with the time period. I don't remember if it was said, but seems to take place in the 70's. Maybe I'm wrong, but that's the feel I get from the clothes and language. To have a woman in that type of gang in that time period would have been extremely unusual. Tarantino does put women in his later films and in powerful roles, so I don't think he was deliberately trying to exclude them in this film.
ReplyDeleteHe might not have even meant for it to be seen as a wedding ring. Many of those gangsters wore rings to show wealth. He might have just wanted to try and mimic that.
ReplyDeleteI think that the quantity of men show how powerful the film is. A lot of the scenes aren't really suited for a feminine character in my opinion. The film does a great job at doing what it needed to do to get the feeling of male dominace across to the viewer. You really get that feeling the beginnning of the movie when Pink doesn't want to tip the waitress.
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