A Clockwork Orange is a horror/ultra-violence film by Stanley Kubrick (space Odyssey) and is based on the book by Anthony Burgess.
It begins with a collision of different bright colours; blue, and reds which contrasts to the actual opening itself, followed by the title appearing after a straight cut from the other credits/colours.
The scene itself begins on the main character's (Alex) face; a fake eyelash accentuating the uneven nature of the smirk on his face, the close-up forces the audience to be in his direct eye-line for a while before the camera begins to slowly zoom out. Having read the book beforehand, I know Alex's character juxtaposes greatly with his costume when we first meet him in this scene; white clothes usually feign an innocence, but Alex is all but that, so rather than an innocence, it shows his nature to try and blame the horrific actions he carries out on the innocence his age gives him (16), and the fact that he was simply misguided. Here, we can see how costume can be used to hide a character's true nature rather than reflect it.
Alex and his 'droogs' are sat side by side on a sofa, all dressed in the same clothes showing a level of equality, or apparent equality in this case, as Alex is known the be the leader of their gang. Each of the characters have a small red accent on their clothes; Alex having two eyeballs in place of cuffs, and because they are wearing shirts and suspenders, they have a reasonable amount of 'class'. Because the background is black, it is difficult to establish their location for a while until there is a clearer shot of the whole room; the audience now know that the environment is not a normal one - littered with sexually objectifying statues/furniture of women (some of which are being used as foot rests), it already becomes an uncomfortable setting for any females in the audience. The writing on the wall is Russian (phonetic) and reflects the language used throughout, though only certain words are taken and used in substitute of common slang. The one word repeated reads 'milk' and signifies that the area they are in is a 'bar for milk', (Alex also drank some to begin with) adding some validity as to why the room is filled with statues of women - women bear milk.
Apart from the furniture's wigs and pubic hair, there is no colour in the room, and though the lights add a form of illumination, the area behind them remains relatively dark.
Famous for a Space Odyssey, Kubrick's composer is well-known for creating epic scores and music which sets the scene. With an 80s-type synth in the background and deep timpani drums, the mood is dark and overbearing; creating tension and suspense throughout the audience, and highlights the silence in the room and lack of speech from any character. This 'silence' is soon broken by Alex, who narrates non-diegetically about what is happening, and sets the scene for a confused audience.
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