Clockwork Orange

¶ … Clockwork Orange The stunning 1971 film, by Stanley Kubrick, "A Clockwork Orange" has thrilling and frightening factors that would astound and bring extraordinary terror to its audience. The movie depicts a story of the nature of violence brought by the youths in England. From my experience of watching the film, the brutalities the movie has demonstrated can easily produce diverse reactions from the viewers the same way it had brought in me different senses and feelings of disbelief after watching.

The film was set in a futuristic England terrorized by gangs of juvenile delinquents spreading violence, terror, and heinous moral destructions. The settings were made somehow a mixture of old English and modern backdrops. Slightly unsettling, there were changes in the setting that would make the audience wonder why such a background and film set was used, developing reality and fantasy techniques between diverse scenes.

The combining style of settings that Kubrick and the film director have used has demonstrated their art in film-making that is unusual and yet creates unforgettable image to the viewers. Partly, it also demonstrates an example of bringing film styles and styles in play production combined with one another. Because of these, "Clockwork Orange" made the silver screen seem like a wide stage of a combination of a movie and a play.

An instance of a scene that illustrates strange backgrounds is the Korova milk bar filled with nude statues while the costumes of the casts are not ordinary fashion of clothes and somehow has a touch of a play's costume. Also, the coin-operated nude statue of a woman serving milk from her breasts, if taken in our current period, is quite a weird part of a film set.

The director's purpose in the element of setting the film has used is perhaps to illustrate a different view to the audience because of the futuristic era the movie tries to illustrate. The sets and props used were made different. They are extraordinary in our current times. However, even though they were particularly strange, such as the coin-operated nude statue serving milk, the choice of such style allows to obtain the attention of the audience on the movie.

In one way or another, because of its strangeness, witty however, it diverts the senses of the audience from the sensitive horrifying terror of the film's story into slight senses of humor. Merged with the background settings is the lighting techniques used in the film. The scenes during the nights where the teenage delinquents find chances of executing violence amidst the night's tranquility produced appropriate lightings characterized by elongated shadows with contrasting sets of lights.

An instance of such is during their nighttime walks along dark streets waiting for prospects of their worthless dreadful acts to society such as beatings, robbery, and rape. During other scenes, Kubrick exhibits normal style of lighting with few changes to bring out colors. In night scenes for instance, the lighting from post lights produced crystal-clear effect. This style allows focus, sparkle, and vivacity in the scenes' foregrounds, such as the characters, despite that the time of a scene depicts a night.

The costumes used by the teenage delinquents were quite unusual. They were all whites with hats that seem like that of an old English attire, somewhat noticeable to the viewers that wearing the same style of attire is the costume of the delinquents as a group. This approach is traditional in plays from which the film may have gathered some styles. The use of fake eyelashes by the character of Alex is also unusual. Perhaps, it was used to depict that there is something wrong with his character and personality.

The method of using this somehow delivers humor to the audience since the way the looks of Alex's character really describes what a costume is -- something worn to hide an individual's character. The other characters, on the other hand, such as the women in the film wear a fashion that is also contrary to the period the film depicts. Their clothes seem to be from that of previous decades. The sound effect is one of the elements that made "A Clockwork Orange" effective and powerful.

This is one of the film's aspects where Kubrick and the film's director have exhibited their talent and has contributed to the film's effectiveness. In "A Clockwork Orange," the sound effects in some of the scenes brought humor to the audience. An instance of which is the lead role's singing of the song "Singing in the Rain" while committing a terrifying act of crime. Another instance that delivers a funny scene is the use of the music "William Tell Overture" while Alex and some women were doing some sexual acts.

Perhaps, the inappropriate but comic use of this type of sound effect was employed to develop a few breaks to the audience from the horror and terrifying violence of the film's story. Aside from the comic effect of the contrasting music used in the film against the scenes played by the characters, in the serious side, gothic backgrounds such as Beethoven's and Mozart's were used as sound effects.

Apparently, this classic type of music is one of the traditional music of European nations that are able to convey feelings to listeners. Although it is not appropriate to use such type of music in some scenes like when the protagonists are battling until death while the music of Beethoven is played in the background, such style delivered the uniqueness and art of Kubrick and the film director. The story of "A Clockwork Orange" was created long before it was put into film.

But despite of the story's age, it is no wonder that the film still achieves sensations of terror and shock to its audience. One element that contributes to this success is the use of camera angles. Bringing the characters focused at the center and in one angle for most of the scenes was the film's.