Review of A Clockwork Orange (1971) by Diego T — 09 Aug 2013

This review contains some spoilers.

Stanley Kubrick once again proves himself to be a master of suspense and storytelling with A Clockwork Orange, which many call his best film ever. And although it will always take second place to 2001 in my book, it really is a fantastic work of art. Although it's often portrayed as being gleefully and gratuitously disturbing just for the hell of it, it never goes out of its way to show horrific and inhuman acts. It maintains a level of depravity without portraying it in a positive fashion. If anything, this is a film that DIScourages the crimes committed in it. Prudes and elitist film snobs will undoubtedly say that it's too over the top for their fragile stomachs, but fuck 'em-- they can't handle the Kubrick.

A Clockwork Orange creates a dystopian future in which society has begun to degrade, resulting in the disenfranchisement of young people. Once such person is Alex, the leader of a gang of droogs (gang members) who go out and terrorize people, rape women, beat up hobos, etc. They are a close-knit group of friends who are willing to turn on each other at a moment's notice. Alex himself is frighteningly amoral and apathetic, and engages in rape and torture compulsively. After being betrayed by his fellow droogies, he is taken to prison and sentenced to fourteen years behind bars.

This is where A Clockwork Orange truly becomes a great film. Alex accepts to partake in a new treatment that will allow him to leave jail early. He is then forced against his will to be tied to a chair, have his eyes propped open, and shown ultra-violent films depicting acts of sex, violence, and violent sex. After two weeks of this, he has developed a mental correlation between the sickening feeling he gets in his stomach during the films and the acts shown in them. He is now incapable of fighting someone (or defending himself against them), and becomes sick at the thought of rape (or basic human sexual urges).

A Clockwork Orange walks a precarious moral line here. It states (at least in my mind) that although Alex's terrible crimes were reprehensible, he at least performed them out of free will. Now that he has no free will, he is a clockwork orange-- a seemingly natural creature on the outside, yet inside he is controlled by a mechanism that dictates his every decision and move. It posits that humans, although imperfect, should not be altered or changed from their natural state, as it would not only subvert nature, but it would subvert their right to free will.

Do I agree with this statement? Yes. But you don't have to believe in the movie's harsh yet well-delivered message to enjoy the living shit out of it. Not only is it rife with social commentary, but it's well-scripted, unforgettable, and superbly acted. The film includes dozens of memorable moments that are referenced in pop culture constantly: Alex attacking his droogies (which was spoofed in an episode of South Park), his eyes being propped open to watch unrelated films (Robot Chicken stole from this unrepentantly), and who could forget his solo performance of Singin' In The Rain while accompanied by the screams of the woman he was raping? Like it or not, it's an original and vastly entertaining piece of pop culture that will live forever in infamy.

Alex himself is simultaneously a sympathetic and detestable character. As the film kicks off, he is easy to hate, and the audience has no qualms about it. But as it progresses, you see that the real villain in this movie is quite possibly the societal structure that drove him to such extremes. He is a product of his environment, and it's my professional opinion that his environment is horrific. He can't be blamed for what he has become because of it, as any human being put in such a condition would undoubtedly want to lash out at the social hierarchy that wants him to conform-- and eventually forces him to.

Fortunately, there's a happy ending, in which Alex is cured. He is able to imagine sex, violence, and his usual depravity, all while listening to the music he was conditioned to hate: Beethoven's Ninth. Unlike Brazil (the movie that A Clockwork Orange is often paired with), there is some hope for closure at the end, and it's highly rewarding to watch. Then you realize that you are now rooting for the very character who raped, tortured, and robbed all those people. It's a jarring experience, so it's much more enjoyable to just go with the flow and treat it as objective storytelling: These are the events, this is how it happened, and this is the ending.

Also, speaking of music... the soundtrack is fantastic, and is spliced together with the visual grandeur of the film expertly. In one scene, Alex has a three-way in fast-forward speed to the tune of the William Tell Overture. It's a spellbinding, hilarious, and visually fantastic thing to watch. The aforementioned Beethoven's Ninth Symphony makes several appearances as well, and as a Die Hard fan I was quite pleased.

Final Score for A Clockwork Orange: 10/10 stars. Kubrick outdid himself with this exceptional classic. Everything works, from the acting to the writing to the imaginative and compelling story. The visuals are both gut-wrenching and impossible to look away from, and it's altogether a rare movie that qualifies as a religious experience for serious film buffs. A total fucking masterpiece.