Review of A Clockwork Orange (1971) by Eduardo V — 17 Sep 2014

Stanley Kubrick's commentary on violence goes deep in this disturbing, albeit entertaining tale of of Alexander DeLarge, played brilliantly by Malcolm McDowell. In typical Kubrick fashion, the central elements are not spelled out for you, but this is probably the closest I've seen in any of his films. The tight 136 minute runtime is also on the short side for Mr. Kubrick, trimming "all of the fat on the steak" before serving it to the audience.

Alex and his band of Droogs (Hello, my Droogies!) are a bunch of misfits raising hell in the streets. They steal, rape, and particularly Alex, appreciates a bit of Ludwig van (Beethoven). One scene early on sees the brutal rape of a woman while her husband looks on helplessly. Even after seeing so many cult and horror movies, I was disturbed in a way that I wasn't expecting after seeing this film. Can we reform bad people through the help of science and medicine? Yes, therapy and what not. How about through the usage of Pavlovian conditioning? This is something that the film is interested in.

Kubrick slyly fits in that it is a Politician looking for the perfect candidate for the new program. Psychological conditioning as a means to control the masses? This is quite the send up on that. Alex has his humanity stripped away as he is conditioned to the video and inadvertently, the music. What was his one connection to humanity which we saw from the very beginning? Ludwig van Beethoven's music serves as a bridge to and sort of appeals to Alex's humanity. We see this in particular when the Droogies are sitting in the milk bar looking down at everyone in the establishment, until he sees a woman singing a bit of Beethoven. When Alex can no longer stand to listen to Beethoven's 9th, the very link to his humanity is gone. "Goodness comes from within, goodness is chosen. When a man cannot chose, he ceases to be a man.".

Fast forwarding through a really really long sex scene is also quite a send up. There was no doubt that the filmmakers were aware of the very dark yet comic material with which they were dealing with. Keep an eye out for David Prowse in a very small role as a body builder. Prowse would go on to play Darth Vader in the Star Wars films. Kubrick does not disappoint with this dark look at authority, religion, and violence. The cinematography is particularly beautiful and is amazing to know that the majority of light used was natural light and a standard lighting kit available to film students. Malcolm McDowell also amazes in what's the performance of a lifetime.

A Clockwork Orange is a fascinating, shocking, disturbing, and fantastic film.