Blur front-man Damon Albarn takes on the role of the anti-hero Alex DeLarge in the ‘A Clockwork Orange’ reference-ridden music video of ‘The Universal’. The narrative is ambiguous; we are subjected to a series of separate characters that are actually satirical representations of what a dystopian future might look like (whilst throwing the nod to Kubrick at almost every shot). Te video reaches a climax as each character’s situation becomes more and more obscene and controversial. The theme of voyeurism and the female body is thick, with shots of women submitting themselves as sexual imagery and playthings to hungry men. These storylines follows an interweaving narrative. They are intercut with live performance of the band in the setting of the white-washed, padded-cell-like bar, surreal images in the style of Warhol and shots of emotionless looking people on a council estate looking reverently up at a giant golf-ball like object which has speakers and a camera lens. The enigma code of the video is what this object’s purpose is. All conversations are seen but not heard, some are subtitled but the audience is left to wonder what mysterious and horrific truth the priest character left with his drinking companion. The video is more or less real-time, the audience being somewhat omniscient, provided a soundless view of each of the bar’s customers.
