SSC Film Studies

A Clockwork Orange Opening Scene

From the very start of A Clockwork Orange, we are forced to align with the character of Alex Delarge. There are various aspects that contribute to this alignment. One of these aspects is the close up of him at the very start. He is picked out from the rest of the group and is the only one who looks engaged therefore, we align with him straight away. Also, the triumphant, dystopian music introduces alex which signifies that he is important, the music also gives us a sense of setting which makes the film more engaging. Alex begins to narrate directly to the audience which makes us align with him as we feel a link to him. The juxtapositions of primary colours at the beginning foreshadows the duality of alex's character which leads us to align with him. the setting of the film at the begging is very peculiar and futuristic, this is unusual and makes the film more engaging which leads us to align with alex more as we want to find out what happens. However, in Full Metal Jacket, this is very different. We do not align with any characters as we are not forced to. All characters are disengaged with the audience therefore restricting a link to any of them. All of the characters look the same as they are losing their identity therefore without identity to a character, we cannot align.