A Clockwork Orange 2nd half analysis

Following from the interrogation scene, when the spectators allegiance is given to Alex, we go into the ludovico treatment scene. Ann Kaplan explains due to the spectator’s alignment with Alex, it reverses the gaze back on to the spectator, whilst Alex is punished so is the male spectator for voyeurism through out the scene.

The scene starts off showing Alex in CU’s grinning, showing that he’s enjoying what he’s been shown on the screen. This is reflected as the spectator also gets to watch what Alex is watching and like Alex ‘enjoy’ the violence being shown, as well as the naked women that appears on screen. This again shows that Alex takes pleasure in violence and that the spectator should too.

Further into the scene, the spectator is no longer given the opportunity to view the violence and nudity shown on the screen that Alex is being shown. Instead the spectator is now forced to look at Alex in pain whilst he’s watching, telling us he’s ill and that he’s not enjoying what he’s seeing. This is why the spectator doesn’t get to view it, due to Alex not enjoying it. We get a CU of Alex’s face and eyes, which are held open by metal, due to the sheer size of the image, which on a cinema screen is massive, shows us the pain that Alex is in, and puts the spectator through the same punishment.

We then get forced to watch hate filled film about Nazi propaganda, which connotes the worst of humans. As well as due to the time that the film originally came out in, this being 1972 which wasn’t that long after world war two, meaning that the knowledge of Nazi’s was fresh and in time, unlike in todays society when it’s seen as something of the past. We get a EXC of Alex’s eye in combination of him screaming, showing that he isn’t enjoying the footage of the Nazi’s, with this imagery the spectator is getting punished with Alex.

Later in the film we see Alex near enough being tortured due to Beethoven’s music, me personally I found this emotionally shocking due to the fact that we see throughout the film that Alex’s favourite music is from Beethoven and that it’s getting used to torture him, to the point where he tries to commit suicide by jumping out the window. This emotionally shocked me due to my allegiance with Alex that’s built throughout the film.

At the end of the film, cheerful music is played whilst we see that Alex is restored to his normal self and is being set free. I shared this enjoyment with Alex as Kubrick manipulated me to align myself with Alex, as it’s not normal to celebrate a rapist and a murderer being set free and allowing to be able to do what he wants.  Alex then has a dream sequence, and again we’re shown Alex being applauded whilst fornicating with a naked woman. Due to Alex being able to enjoy this again, the spectator also gets to view this as well.