By Jason Haskins
The future of Britain is bleak indeed. Alex DeLarge (Malcolm McDowell) is the leader of a gang who go around causing nothing but trouble. After a botched break-in at an elderly woman's house that ends in murder, DeLarge's gang turns on him and he winds up in jail. However, a new program is being set up that is supposed to cure his psychosis and he's transferred from prison to this hospital for the treatment. One of the side effects, though, is that he can no longer listen to his favorite Beethoven symphony without getting sick. Now, on his own in this cold and cruel world he must figure out what to do.
A Clockwork Orange was released in 1971 to smatters of applause by some, and damnation from others. It was banned in most areas and didn't even see the light of day in the UK until decades after its release because of director Stanley Kubrick's peeing match with the media about the violence and degradation that is witnessed onscreen. This, of course, is based on the book by famous fiction writer Anthony Burgess published in 1962 and stays true, for the most part, with the ideals of the dystopian literature. This film has been listed as science fiction and dystopian and I've even seen it referred to as beat cinema, though I don't know why. All I know is that this movie is the crème de la crème of Kubrick's filmography--the most recognizable and controversial work he ever did in his lifetime.
The first time I saw this I fell in love with it. My buddy and I had one of the old DVDs where you could put it on and it would repeat once it finished. We must've stayed up all night trying to memorize the lines of dialogue the film is famous for. Like Burgess's source material, much of the narrative and dialogue is written in a dialect that Burgess fashioned himself. There are a lot of things that might very well go over your head, especially if you have a hard time with British pronunciation. What makes this movie so good is that it's long--over two hours--yet it constantly feels fresh with new things going on around every corner. The narrator, DeLarge, is such an entertainer and despite how bad of an individual he is you can't help but enjoy his antics. He's definitely my favorite anti-hero.
Malcolm McDowell's performance boosted his career, and he's been riding off since--though he's no longer the dashing personality he used to be. His performance will stagger you in A Clockwork Orange. I'm sure you've seen screen shots of him with the eye lash, drinking at the Korova Milk Bar or walking along the pier with his droogs before kicking the living crap out of them or, my favorite, the bath tub scene where he sings "Singin' in the Rain". There are so many fantastic moments and his enthusiasm for the role is definitely felt. I love McDowell, but this is the single role that he's failed to shake off as each time I see him I see Alex DeLarge. You're with him for the entirety of the feature and he never grows old. He's not outlandish, but conniving and somehow he forces the audience to sympathize for his plight.
This was Stanley Kubrick's follow-up to his 1968 science fiction classic, 2001: A Space Odyssey and is easily one of his most compelling projects. He's unflinching with what he's willing to show. The amount of violence displayed in the movie isn't the most you'll ever see in your life, but it hits where it hurts and must've been outrageous back in the early seventies. I'm talking about the rape scene that happens early on in the movie where DeLarge and his droogs sneak their way into a house and rape a man's wife in front of him--scarring him physically and mentally for life. It's not gratuitous and the whole thing comes into play way later into the film, but it's the one moment that my mother always turns off the movie--she's never been able to get past it, which is understandable as the subject matter is very upsetting. There's some nudie scenes, and images that will certainly be offensive to some, but Kubrick does it with a certain class I really enjoy. Nothing seems too much and somehow all fits the world that is created for A Clockwork Orange.
Wendy Carlos composed the score for the film and she did a fantastic job bringing electronic/synthesizer and classic music together in this conglomerate of whimsical craziness. You'll feel like your dreaming at times and it's full of all the charm of the seventies. This is one of those must-own soundtracks as the songs all make an impact at one point or another--and they're all fun and interesting in their own ways. I highly advise everyone to see this movie and see what all the fuss is about. There's a reason for the controversy, but if you look past all of that you get this incredibly made movie from the creative mind of Stanley Kubrick. He created so many standout scenes that I would have a difficult time listing them all here. It's such an awesome story where you meet all of these interesting characters as you follow DeLarge through his rehabilitation process and even at the end you don't even know if anything worked. This is a film for the ages and one I've probably seen the most amount of times in Kubrick's filmography. Spare some copper, me brother, and go see A Clockwork Orange--it's well worth the purchase as there's a really cool DVD/Blu-ray out with loads of special features, crisp visuals, and pleasing audio.
5 out of 5 stars
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