Powerful story, exuding raw emotions and exceptional performances. IF it offends you, you are not looking where it wants you to..

Rating: 9/10 (29 December 2019)

As the opening credits lead us into the movie, we witness the most captivating, iconic and chilling opening scene of cinema as the camera pans out with Alex delarge's(Malcolm McDowell) eyes fixated on ours. The eyes symbolize the character's inner mind, as if reflecting the soul of evil. And what makes this scene unforgettable is its background score.
We are ushered into the world of Anthony Burgess, a distopyian future with a slang of its own. Alex and his droogs roam around, wrecking havoc that are beyond redeemable. One such scene shows Alex and his friends raping a writer's wife and disabling the writer's body. This then is followed by a look into Alex's personal world, who has a penchant for Ludwig van Beethoven's symphonies.
And his love for Beethoven is used as a symbolism for the pleasure he gets when committing crimes, as the music is played in the background. During one such crime, he is betrayed by his droogs and since the lady dies, he ends up in prison.
We get further insight into his psychopathic mind when he reads religious works in prison, and fantasies himself as one of the tormentors of Christ, who inflicts pain on the weak and later enjoys the company of unclad women.
During one of his prison visits, a political leader is looking for a volunteer for the Ludovico treatment, that basically robs the criminals of their human ability of liberty and making choices as it associates pain and trauma with their basic instincts. Seeing it as an opportunity to leave prison, Alex signs up for it despite the reservations of the church father who deemed the project immoral.
As he is shown videos of violence, he realizes their background music -
Ludwig van Beethoven!!! He yells and pleads them to stop it, as he would never be able to listen to Ludwig van without the accompanying pain induced by the treatment. But realizes it is just too late.
Upon release, he undergoes a series of abuse and heartbreak, from his parents disowning him to his earlier pals torturing him as police. And the worst happens when he ends up in the same writer's house who's wife he had raped. The writer decides to use him as a prop to expose the governments immoral project and gets him interviewed. Although after realizing Alex's true identity, he decides to push him to suicide by torturing him with Beethoven's music and blaming it on the government. Alex ends up committing suicide.
But he opens his eyes to a hospital where he is being treated. As the nurse shows him pictures and asks for his response, we begin to realize Alex has been cured back to his normal self, as the government wanted to escape the wrath of the public and investigations on its Ludovico treatment. Alex's original self was proof by the government that there was no such treatment done. The movie ends with Alex in one of his usual fantasies of raw sex.
For me, as hinted in the story, the movie is about the intrusion of the state into the lives of its common folks and that more than morality and humanity, the government cared for its agenda and results. The very government also did not hesitate in releasing back a potential psychopathic criminal into the society when it felt it was being cornered on the issues involved in the treatment.
And as for Malcolm McDowell's portrayal of Alex delarge, there is a reason why the character is loved(me included) despite his dangerous flaws. One of the most memorable and terrifying villains on screen. The narration by Alex was definitely praise-worthy, even quirky and humorous sometimes. Stanley Kubrick did not deserve the backlash back then for the offensiveness and the raw nature of the character and movie. And special thanks for the background music, Ludwig van Beethoven, could he get it wrong?
One of Stanley Kubrick's finest works.