Review of A Clockwork Orange (1971) by Callum H — 17 Dec 2014

Original Review.

Stanley Kubrick's A Clockwork Orange is full of ideas, but perhaps doesn't execute them with as much finesse or refined perfection as I've been told the movie will encapsulate. This is a film which has challenged me, and will take some musing to probably coordinate a definitive summary. For now, I summarise my initial reaction with:

Which side of the extreme does Kubrick take? Conformity, or anarchy?

More thoughts and perhaps an altered rating coming soon.

Elongated Review.

"Violence makes violence.".

Look into the mind of the sick and twisted Stanley Kubrick, brothers, and what do you see?

What I see is an accumulation of things; a number of different ideals and thoughts, beliefs and intolerance, all thrown together in a politically incorrect format. In what could possibly be considered one of the most terrifying and highly traumatizing films of the 20th century, A Clockwork Orange firsthand proves the capacity for Kubrick's both subtle and more overt commentary on societal pressures, individuality, conformity, anarchy and corruption. It speaks on a whole range on topics, and is a perfect example for any amiable film student on how to present certain characters. Kubrick gives a masterclass on how to manipulate a viewer into feeling a certain emotion that they feel is morally unacceptable in such a situation or for such an individual, and presents us with multiple ultimatums about our own identity and the reality of supposed separation of church and state. All of this is wrapped neatly in perhaps a dragging and uneven film that contains gorgeous performances, strong direction and cinematography that is both minimalistic and all the same refined.

A Clockwork Orange centres around a character who is both a villain and a hero; a sympathetic anti-hero by the end of all his entertaining escapades, Alex is someone who single-handedly represents the extremism that is common and present within our own modern society. Alex is initially an anarchist, a teenager who feels he is entitled to whomever and whatever. His moral ambiguity is immediately compelling, but perhaps off-putting. We can't help but feel utterly repulsed by our supposed 'protagonist's actions, and consider him as we would, say, Deckard, from Blade Runner; in a conventional film, Alex would most certainly be the villain of the story, but here, under the watchful and devilish eye of Kubrick, he is our detrimental and impulsive anti-hero. He is the result of a government and society which doesn't care about his path in life, nor him as a human being; that is until he starts to cause harm to those upholding the laws and rules set in place by the government that exists in this dystopian future.

Alex is then taken from his anarchic societal standing and put into a situation which requires complete conformity and unquestioning tolerance. Whereas within the first half an hour of the film Alex is the perpetrator and ruler of his own existence, manipulating and destroying the lives of those around him without care for their health or desires, Alex is thrown into a situation later on in the film which requires him to listen and act upon the orders of those around him. He is thrown into a position which reflects the complete opposite extreme; complete order. He is thrown into prison, where he is told to strip bare in front of a police officer, representing the stripping of his former ways, and is thrown into an entirely controlled environment, which dictates what he will eat, who he will sleep next to, where he will go, what he will do; how he will live his life. The strange thing is that Alex does not at all resist this way of living. Whereas many other films have embraced the protagonist who wishes not to conform to societal or immediate standards and rules, A Clockwork Orange works with an anti-hero who takes his orders and does not seek to upset the established order. He turns into the human being he seemed to have a distaste for in the opening act of the film.

Only this isn't the case. Alex never seems to display an intolerance for any of the upholding citizens that inhabit his world. Sure, at first he rapes and pillages the rich, but the rich aren't necessarily entirely lawful people, as the government is made out to be in the second act. This leads us to the conclusion that Alex is perhaps exhibiting the classic case of rebellious behavior that we see from teenagers and adolescents all the time in film; this is until he is thrown in a location with people who are uncaring for his manipulations. His words, promises and lies are worthless to the officials; in fact, perhaps the reason Alex becomes so insistently passive as he is thrown into prison is because the institution is providing its own form of manipulation. Alex is manipulated into providing his mind for the experimental 'Ludovico Technique', which aims to rehabilitate rapists and other forms of criminals into feeling disdain and pain for even trying to initiate into activities which would classify as criminal behavior. This inhumane technique performed by the institution and government is immediately and entirely sickening to watch, but it represents part of the major theme of A Clockwork Orange; the perpetual manipulation of the masses by the governmental organisation.

But the technique is not necessarily perfect, as whilst it does manage to prevent a former criminal from recommitting, due to the sickness that occurs when one is subjected to the activities that they've been taught to detest, it doesn't allow them either moral desire or thought, and keeps them from defending themselves in violent situations. Kubrick is exploring the idea that the government markets their ideas and techniques to the masses, selling their concepts on the immediate positives, but dangerously ignoring the issues that follow afterwards. When Alex is let out from prison after the treatment, he encounters two of his former groupies (who he initially calls his "droogs"), men who he abused and then subsequently abused him, leading to his arrest back in the first act. When he meets them, they are now police officers, representing a blatant example of Kubrick's attempts to out the corruption and conformity of the government. These former droogs are as dangerous and evil as Alex formerly was, and proceed to beat on him, whilst Alex can not defend himself; one of the aforementioned side effects of this poorly conceptualized treatment. Alex subsequently is knocked out and abused by another former victim of his; a man whose wife was raped in the infamous 'Singing in the Rain' assault sequence. When Alex is put in hospital for trying to commit suicide, not only does he find himself in what appears to be a sterile and an institutional environment (a hospital), but the man who allowed Alex to be tested with the Ludovico technique, the Interior Minister, arrives and attempts to manipulate Alex into supporting his irrational and inhumane form of conditioning that happened to ruin Alex's life in numerous ways. The government's long list of misery and unfortunate victims continue to stretch, and its manipulations of the masses and of individuals continues.

There are other themes and ideas swinging around within A Clockwork Orange. The film asks who is to blame for Alex's behavior, and we can come up with either one of two answers; the government and their conformitive ways, or perhaps Alex's parents. The latter seems more probable, as we can discern from the scene where Alex's mother tries to tell him to go to school the night after his initial violent escapades. His mother accepts his pathetic excuse of having a sore head and simply leaves him be, instead of forcing him to go to school, as many would consider acceptable behavior from a parent. She later talks to his father, and whilst both of them agree that they believe Alex does have a job, neither of them think to question what the job actually is, and why it has to be performed in the middle of the night, despite Alex's adolescence. Their negligence has honed Alex's anarchic and wild thought process, though they have not entirely wiped him of his capacity to respect and follow others, as we are shown in the prison scenes. There is also exploration of Nazi related thematic material, and Kubrick shows us that despite the supposed eradication of the Nazi party and its key members, its ideals and beliefs continue to live on; that despite the destruction of those who uphold an idea, that idea will continue to thrive and grow.

The most interesting and repulsive thing about this whole film, to myself at least, is that Alex is but a minor; a young individual who is influenced by sex, drugs and orchestral music (in the place of rock'n'roll), and is thrown into situations which seem to be far more adult in nature than himself. Nevertheless, his naivety due to his age is shown often, not only with his numerous nicknames for certain objects and materials (he calls the act of sexual intercourse 'the in-and-out' and calls eggs 'eggiweggs'), but with various products that normally reference youthfulness. Alex goes to a bar to drink drugged milk, which makes him more violent than he usually is. Whereas beer or alcohol of any sort is generally considered a man's drink by our modern society, milk is thought of as a baby's beverage; a baby suckles from his or her mother's breast for milk. Within the BBC comedy The IT Crowd, a joke is made of the fact that one of the main characters, Moss, orders milk during a scene where he is trying to act cool. Kubrick seems to be trying to demonize even the most childish and innocent of acts, and it is at once remarkable and distasteful.

A Clockwork Orange is not a complete masterpiece, as a few of my comments may have hinted at; it often feels as if it is dragging, the characterisation is not as distinct as one would like (though that may tie into the ideas of conformity and sameness, something that The Giver also tackled) and some of the performances are overtly melodramatic, to the point which it takes one out of the film. I shan't criticise the obscurity of a number of the key thematic ideas Kubrick implements and indulges in; instead, I shall criticise the bluntness of a number of other critical ideologies. Yet still, Kubrick's handling of a number of distinct thematic ideas makes A Clockwork Orange a film for the ages, and one that is sure to initiate debate for years to come. Whether that be due to its portrayal of governmental figureheads and manipulation, or its commentary on religion and its moral contradictions; a priest in the film remarks upon the moral ambiguity of the tests undertaken on Alex, and detests the idea that those subjected to the treatment are incapable of rendering their own choices and decisions in life without being influenced by an outside force, but still proclaims that that those who do not follow God's specific commandments will be sentenced to hell to burn for eternity. To give free will, but to punish those for exercising it? One could estimate Kubrick is an atheist, or at least agnostic, from this thematic concept alone.

A Clockwork Orange doesn't hold a whole heap of quality outside its thematic ideas and its primary performances, most specifically that of Malcolm McDowell who plays Alex. His performance is mesmerizing, disgusting and wholly captivating, and from his subtle to more blatant character moments, his acting prowess is always on show. But the star of the picture is undoubtedly Stanley Kubrick, whose artistic vision and sick, twisted interpretation of the novel of which this is based upon proves to produce one of the finest films of his career.

So what do you see when you look into the sick and twisted mind of Stanley Kubrick? A demented soul, incapable of producing his political and religious beliefs outside of his artistic efforts? An intelligent director who seeked to enlighten the population with his societal commentary? A crazed man who didn't really know what he was on about? Either way, his films are undoubtedly ingrained into cinematic history, and A Clockwork Orange is no different. It deserves numerous acclaim, but one must also recognise its undeniable faults.

"But enough of words, actions speak louder than. Action now. Observe all.".