Remarkable editing

Rating: 7/10 (16 June 2013)

A Clockwork Orange (1971) directed by Stanly Kubrick, is a powerful entry in the dystopian future film genre. In Britain, Alex (Malcolm McDowell) is the leader of his gang of delinquents, whom he calls his "droogies," and together they go around the city terrorizing citizens with violent acts such as beating and rape (Kubrick, 1971). During their first big robbery where Alex accidentally kills a woman, his "droogies" attack him and leave him to be caught by the police. In prison, Alex signs up for a mysterious new treatment that will supposedly fix the crime problem in Britain. However, the treatment only alters Alex's behavior with physical pain rather than change his actual will to commit evil acts. Alex leaves prison and returns to a society that rejects him for his past mistakes, and is found taken advantage of by a subversive writer, Mr. Alexander (Patrick Magee), who wants a good story against the government's new anti-crime methods.
A major theme in A Clockwork Orange is free will. Throughout the plot the director shows that chaos in society cannot be reversed by taking away the free will of the citizens. Similarly, in Kubrick's The Shining, the importance of free will is emphasized when Jack Torrence's lack of free will proves detrimental by leading him to attempt to kill his family, and eventually, to his downfall (Plot summary for the shining, n.d.).
In A Clockwork Orange, Kubrick establishes the chaotic society Britain has become. In the first scene, by using low-key lighting the director "creates a somber mood" and highlights the beggar when he comments on how there is no more law and order in the world (Boggs & Petrie, 2008, p.114). The side lighting creates long sharp shadows of the four gang members to emphasize the darkness and the evil within them. In contrast, during the scene where Alex has to prove the treatment has been successful, back lighting focused just on Alex is used to indicate that Alex's new behavior is under a microscope as seen by the audience in front of him, but that he himself cannot see clearly, further emphasizing his uncertain future.
The editing in A Clockwork Orange is remarkable. It starts with an inside-out editing sequence, where the first scene is introducing the milk bar, and from there the viewer is emerged into the idiosyncratic futuristic world through various fast-changing violent scenes. Kubrick uses creative juxtaposition to expose the high range of immorality in the futuristic society. This fact is exposed as the statue of the dancing Jesuses are frozen and montaged to create movement when "dancing" to Beethoven's Ninth Symphony. The slow-motion scene where Alex assaults his friends intensifies the emotional effect for both Alex and the viewer (Boggs & Petrie, 2008).
Kubrick effectively communicates the immorality in the future world by diminishing the surprise of immoral acts, while also increasing the emotional effect to Alex himself while committing immoral acts. By exposing the detriments of the lack of free will, Kubrick is perhaps attempting to motivate his viewers to not give up their freedom to institutions such as the government, or to society's constructs, even in spite of problems that may be caused by free will such as violence and crimes.