Thursday 1 October 2015

A CLOCKWORK ORANGE (1971) - OPENING SCENE ANALYSIS



Mise-en-scene and Analysis:
Stanley Kubrick, who I believe to be an incredible director, directed "A Clockwork Orange" starring Malcolm McDowell who plays the psychotic nutcase known as Alex, who leads a gang to Rape, Violence and Crime. The opening Begins with a screen of Red as the introduction of "Funeral of Queen Mary" plays in the background, this creates an eerie atmosphere and devilish feel to the movie. It gradually builds up as credits appear and the flash of the blue screen that follows which then proceeds back to Red. We are then introduced to the Main Character, Alex, with a close up shot of him slowly breathing, whilst looking at the camera, we are shown his signature fake eyelashes that appear on both upper and lower lids. This shot then proceeds to elongate as we are shown who he is sitting next to; his "so called" gang of criminals, also described as "droogs" by alex. They are dressed in all white, with black top hats and Black boots, this interprets the idea of them being a "gang". They are shown sitting, all in possession of milk, with erotic sculptures surrounding themselves. Alex then describes his gang by their first names, and explains what he is doing at that current time, the shot still continues to lean away from the subjects, creating a long shot, showing the people around him, and his location. The location is reported to be a modernized Korova milk bar, where the milk was believed to "sharpen you up, and make you ready for a bit of the old ultra-violence".

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