A Clockwork Orange Mise En Scene Analysis

Few films have replicated the controversy of Stanley Kubrick’s A Clockwork Orange (1971). Created during the ‘Golden age of American Film violence’ between the 1960s and early 1970s and based on the Anthony Burgess novella of the same name. The Orwellian, science-fiction film, catalogues the life and crimes of antagonist Alex Delarge; a young, violent and hedonistic delinquent with an enthusiastic appreciation for music, specifically German composer, Ludwig van Beethoven. Alex’s ‘droogs’, Dim, Georgie and Pete often accompany him on his escapades, delving into what Alex refers to as ‘lashings of ultra-violence’. The term ‘ultra-violence’, refers to exceptionally violent acts such as, assault, rape or murder; all of which transpire within the
In the opening of the rape scene, the doorbell rings, as the shot of a husband sitting at his typewriter pans slowly from left to right, introducing his wife on the right side of the room, who whilst still in the shot, moves away from the camera to answer the door. The slow pan and long, uncut duration of the shot creates a foreboding tone. Whilst the mise-en-scene, provides meaning through the use of colour. As Alex and his ‘droogs' drive towards the couple’s home, the scene is colour graded as predominantly blue. Blue often is regarded as having connotations of tranquillity and calm. However, this juxtaposes the ‘droogs' and their love for ultra-violence and drugs. In contrast to this, the writer’s wife, who is a redhead, wears an entirely red ensemble. Red is often associated with connotations of blood and passion, two connotations which are more fitting to the foreshadowing of a rape scene. Once Alex and his ‘droogs’ break into the house, they instantly begin to sexually assault the woman. Although the concept of rape is, in itself, an insidious act. Much of the scene’s impact can be attributed from the way in which the scene is executed through the cinematography. The horrific assault on the couple is initially filmed in a long shot, which remains static and the central placement of the shot positions the audience within the scene as a helpless onlooker. Despite the
The one solitary time where the cinematography deviates in the rape scene from long shots, is the shot of the husband on the floor, watching his wife, in pure devastation. Strange’s analysis is when assessed against the shots of the husband’s face, which are filmed in an unsteady, low, close up, shot which is contrasted by cutting to a static, long and wide-angled shot - thus produce sensory disorientation, shock and confusion. The audience is never shown whether or not the wife is raped because the last shot of the scene is a close up of the husband’s distraught face watching whatever happened to her, enabling the audience to gather their own meaning rather than the film’s plot. It is left to the audience’s imagination and that can leave a more potent effect on the audience. Furthermore, within Stanley Kubrick’s A Clockwork Orange, meaning is primarily constructed, not by the two disciplines of sound and cinematography - but by the films audience. A primary instance of this is when filming on the set of A Clockwork Orange, Kubrick knew that he wanted a musical accompaniment to the film’s rape scene. When Kubrick asked actor Malcolm Mcdowell if he knew any songs, Mcdowell sang ‘Singin’ in The Rain’, completely improvised. However, this became the most famous