Watch a Rare, 8-Minute Clip of Steve Buscemi and Quentin Tarantino Rehearsing For ‘Reservoir Dogs’
Fans of Quentin Tarantino were dealt a tough blow yesterday, as the director announced he was canceling his upcoming film, 'The Hateful Eight,' after the script leaked. We can't say we can make up for a lost Tarantino project, but we do have something that Tarantino fans will enjoy. A rare 8-minute video of Quentin Tarantino and Steve Buscemi in 1991 rehearsing for 'Reservoir Dogs' has popped up online and gives us some insight as to how film history was made.
The video in question showed up on YouTube with no indication as to where it came from, but it was filmed by Tarantino in 1991 before they began shooting 'Reservoir Dogs' in an effort to be as prepared as possible, keeping production costs down. (UPDATE: the footage was shot at the Sundance Institute's Film Lab in June, 1991.) In these scenes, Tarantino is the stand-in for Harvey Keitel's Mr. White, while Buscemi plays his role of Mr. Pink.
There are three scenes rehearsed here. The first is when Pink is ranting about a set up while White tends to Mr. Orange (it's unclear who it's playing the body of Orange). The second is in the rendezvous bathroom when Pink continues to try and convince White there was a set up. The last is the "for all I know you're the rat" scene between the two.
Tarantino does a slightly better job acting in these loose rehearsal scenes than he does in the actual movie, but it's not fair watching him go up against Buscemi, who destroys it, even in early rehearsals.
Maybe it doesn't make up for 'The Hateful Eight' but it's a fascinating part of Tarantino lore and should be enough to tide you over until the 'Hateful' script starts making the rounds across the internet.