analysis of A Clockwork Orange cuz there aren't enough around! (PART 1)
The movie starts with a neon red screen and a big, bright white title, the title of the movie. It's already a punch in the eye, red is the color of violence, blood and rage. It's the start of a violent story, not by chance.
It opens up with the face of our protagonist: Alex. everything's silent, except for the creepy, unsettling music in the background. With just one glance, his menacing eyes and malignant smile, Kubrick already manages to tell us he's a bad person with bad intentions in a few seconds. He looks at us straight in the eyes, and raises his glass full of milk, welcoming us, cheering to the start of this story. Slowly, the camera moves further and further, to reveal other people - his droogs -- dressed the same as him.
White represents purity, something that, ironically, these gang members don't have. White is innocent, and it's also very clean -- that's why it's a very common hospital color -- so it's not a color you would see for people who like to "get dirty", both literally and figuratively.
Their black hats almost make them look like middle class english gentlemans, which again, is a strong contrast to how they act.
Dim wears lipstick, George has yellow and blue eyeshadow, (curious how in color theory, blue and yellow are opposites. Yellow also often symbolizes betrayal, interesting, since he's the first one that actually tries to replace Alex and be the new leader) Pete has a dark blue eyeshadow on one eye (it almost looks like a black eye, so more violence symbolism?) and Alex has his iconic fake eyelashes, on only on eye: his right eye.
I did my research and i might have taken this phrase a bit too literally, but in the Bible Jesus says,
"If your right eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away."
We know Burgess was very christian, but i feel like this take might be a bit of a stretch; just putting it out there tho. Also, right eyes, ironically, also represent righteousness and morality, not to mention strenght and masculinity.
The use of makeup was to actually make them seem a lot more eccentric and dramatic, clownish, probably a way for them to stand out and, also, make violence seem a lot more cartoon-ish, like characters from a slapstick comedy.
That's probably just me, but the cricket codpiece looks like a diaper from afar, (lol) and if that was the intention, it renforces the idea of them being, well, young. Again, a creepy contrast to their personalities. It also serves as protection and it also highlightes their hyper-masculinity.
Why does Alex have a pageboy cut? Probably a symbol for punk culture and indipendence. The haircut is also associated with anti-establishment, (opposed to traditional super short military haircuts) and It's very child-like and playful, (popular haircut among medieval children) to remind us of Alex's youth, and it was also a symbol of aristocracy -- and therefore "elegance" -- during the Renaissance, since tons of European kings used to wear it.
I know people will say that it's just Malcolm Mcdowell's natural hair and eye colors, but i find ironic how blonde hair and blue eyes, that usually represent innocence and goodness and heroism -- in a very white supremacist way -- (take a look at angels, specifically cherubs) are also the features of a sadistic and violent teen gang leader. Yet another sharp contrast to his personality.
Inside the Korova Milkbar -- with it's dark walls that represent mystery and secrecy -- there are white statues of naked women, that are supposed to be tables. They are hypersexual objects. Women, as objects. Which does represent the way the droogs think about them. Objects to rape and use. Well, to be fair, they view anyone as objects of entertainment. But for women? that entertainment is especially of sexual nature.
Alex's black boots step on one of the women's body, as to symbolize oppression, and his desire for submission, his aggressive, bossy self.
Drinking milk is a common trope for villains, made even more common by this movie: a new contrast, between a childish beverage that usually babies drink, and a teenager, so a child, yes, but the complete opposite of innocent and pure, which are adjectives often associated with milk. The symbol of childhood and motherhood, so safety, next to people who aren't safe at all.
Moving to the next scene...
look at their shadows: tall, dark, menacing. The homeless old man looks so small and vulnerable compared to them; and he is. They are young, strong, and ready for violence. It's unnerving just to look at.
We can't see their faces, we can just see their bodies, and cold air comes out of their mouths under the grey, lonely bridge: it's chilling, it looks dangerous enough and the fact that there's probably a fairly icy temperature makes everything less and less comfortable to watch. They are in obvious positions of power compared to the old man, and it shows in this image: he's lying down, and they are standing over him, laughing and mocking him arrogantly.
In the next scene, the old man says they can even kill him, since he doesn't want to live in society anyway, a society that doesn't protect the elderly people and lets young gangsters hurt anyone they like, especially those weak enough that can't defend themselves. Alex is, surprisingly, the only one who lets the old man explain himself without laughing to his face. In the book, he says he likes to hear people speak of their own opinions. He looks at him with his piercing blue eyes and that smug, sadistic smirk on his lips.
People claim Burgess "predicted" the moon landing (which happened in 1969, while the book was written in 1962) but i believe that while he might have used some imagination, it's not hard to believe that aerospace engineers, scientists, mathematics and astronomers were probably already planning or discussing a potential "trip" to the moon in the early 60's.
Next scene: another gang is trying to rape a young girl inside an abandoned, dilapidated theater, as classical music keeps playing in the background, as if nothing is happening.
Theatres are often presented as sophisticated places -- it's high art for the middle class, the same goes for classical music, which is considered elegant and "sober", it's THE music of the European aristocratic class of the 19th century and today, it's still very much regarded as raffinate. It creates a sharp contrast to what we are seeing; the gangs in this movie often come from a working, low class background, and they are committing horrible, grotesque acts inside a place that's usually "sanitized" and polished.
They are also on a stage, so it looks more like the performance of violent acts. A show. And that's also what we are doing as viewers: we are watching a performance of violence, the movie itself, and It's a commentary on how human beings and society separate violent art and real, violent crimes.
Aristotle (sorry if i mess up the philosopher and/or if i get confused with someone else) believed in the promotion of dark, brutal art; it's cathartic, and it helps humans being channel their aggressiveness into something harmless, a bit like with sports, especially boxing, wrestling, karate, rugby, etc.
Little detail: look at how they are dressed. They all have military uniforms, or at least, a military "aestethic". It reminds us of totalitarian regimes, like nazism and fascism, which were culturally, ideologically and practically, inherently violent.
The sole existence of the military is the proof of what Kubrick is partly trying to say with this movie: the universe, the world, animals and therefore, society and human beings, are all violent creatures at heart. Yes we do have positive, civil sides, but aggressiveness and rage are all parts of us as well. It's what makes us alive, human, part of the system of nature. For humanity to be 100% pacific, "saintly" and squeaky clean, the whole universe should also change completely, which is, of course, impossible. Burgess was also deeply christian, and if we view things from that perspective, humans are sinful, we all come from Adam and Eve after all (the original sin, etc) and even after the baptism, we are all perfectly capable of evil. God and goodness exist just as much as malevolence.
In the next scene, the two gans beat each other up fast and frenetic, everything happens all at once. It looks fun, because that's how Alex views it.
(I put this image of Alex just to show of fucking good of an actor Malcolm Mcdowell is. LOOK AT THAT FACE, he looks absolutely creepy and terryfing. He knows how to play this character super well.)
After escaping the police and risking driving over two or three people in the middle of the country, they arrive at a big house owned by a middle class couple. They decide to rob them and commit some more ultraviolence.
(PART TWO COMING IN A FEW DAYS!)
