Classical Conditioning

I don’t know why I was thinking of this song, other than the fact that on Sunday I finally got the chance to re-watch Enter the Void. I decided to put it on while making my bed.

The song, if you are unfamiliar is used at the end of one of Gaspar Noe’s other films, Irreversible. It’s also used during the king’s speech in The King’s Speech, as well as I’m sure many other films, but that (Irreversible) is what I first knew it from. The song is hauntingly beautiful. I must admit that I wasn’t fully ready for it, and when the build up came in, it nearly brought me to tears.

The first time I heard it, after having seen Irreversible, I felt a bit like Alex Delarge (from A Clockwork Orange), when he hears “Ludwig Van.” The song, though connected to the innocent scene at the end, is also vicariously connected to the all of the previous scenes of brutality that came before it. Hearing the song started to make me feel physically sick. It’s as if this classical piece of music had, through one viewing of Irreversible, classicly conditioned me to feel ill upon hearing it.

A testament to the power of music and the power of film.

Calling All Droogs

I’ve been thinking, how much cooler would these guys look if they were riding penny farthings? I would love to start a gang of fellow hi wheelers to ride around the Boston area with as the Droogs from A Clockwork Orange. We would ride, not just on Halloween, but anytime of the year. Additionally they could be fellow contirbuters to this blog. If there is any interest in becoming a droog of mine just shoot me an e-mail. Perhaps I will wrangle up some potential members at the upcoming Steam Punk Festival in Waltham.