Stanley Kubric's use of montage and mise-en-scene in A Clockwork Orange

Stanley Kubrick is a director notorious throughout Hollywood for his unconventional,
and often morose, films. He is a perfect example of a director who uses montage and mise-en-
scene to his advantage to create a certain mood and reinforce the themes of a film. Clockwork
Orange is a story which takes place in the future and tracks the leader of a gang of hoodlums
particularly fond of committing acts of “ultra-violence.” The same themes which are prevalent
in Kubrick’s other movies appear here as well (the downward spiral of humanity, death,
destruction, and mayhem.)
The plot of Clockwork Orange is conveyed mostly by Kubrick’s brilliant use of montage.
The first cut in the movie comes after a blood red screen and features the main character, Alex,
and his “rouges” looking sinister and drinking milk. From the film’s outset we are tied to Alex,
the group’s leader, in the eeriest possible manner, which sets us up for what is to come. There is
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