Music Analysis: 'Reservoir Dogs And A Clockwork Orange'

Music plays a key role in a film, as it can add profound levels of emotion and change how someone interprets and comprehends a given scene. The usual music utilized on film is one that fits seemingly and represents the actions, visuals and emotion being displayed. For example, a frantic car chase can go along with fast and agitating music; or comedy or a parody can go along with ridicule and playful works. In both cases the music influences the viewer on how they should interpret, feel and respond to what the scene is showing. In contrast, counterpoint utilizes incongruent music in relation to the visuals and adds new possible meanings to the scene.
The musical concept of counterpoint is when two or more melodies that differ from each other are put together and sound harmoniously. Counterpoint on film acts in a similar way, except that rather than having melodic lines, we encounter visuals and sounds being the differing lines that give new room for interpretation. An easy way to understand this concept is with the “Banana split” analogy: both banana and ice cream have their unique flavors and can be eaten separately, but if you combine them it becomes a new dish: “Banana split”. The following are two analysis on the contrapuntal use in the scenes from the movies “Reservoir Dogs” and “A Clockwork Orange”. …show more content…
It could even be argued that the movie itself is a contrapuntal work in its entirety and should be analyzed as a whole. But for the purpose of this paper, we will dive into the infamous “penis murder” scene where a woman is murdered by the protagonist with the use of a big statue resembling the male sexual organ. In this scene the “Overture” from “La Gazza Ladra” by the Italian composer Gioachino Rossini is the music utilized for counterpoint. It started earlier than the scene we are about to dive in, but the way it interacts with the following scene is what will be