Vs. 2001: Free Will

Rating: 10/10 (11 January 2000)

A Clockwork Orange is all about free will. In a way I think it is an answer to or companion to 2001.
All the characters, human and machine, in 2001 followed the most logical course of action never letting emotion or personal interests get involved. The humans were not noticeably different from HAL. They all saw something happen, analysed it, decided what to do, then followed through without any noticeable emotion or interest. The actors were very boring and mechanical for a reason.
A Clockwork Orange is the exact opposite in that no one acted out of any logical necessity. Characters were alive. They had wants, needs, and desires. When the state tried to treat Alex's violence by conditioning him to resist his own free will it back fired. They learned, or more precisely they should have learned, that not being able to do bad is not the same as being good.
The Prison Chaplin made two short speeches on the necessity of free will, and how the treatment would not help to make Alex a better person. In the end I though he was the one major character who cared about Alex as a person.
PS Notice also that Kubrick planted a copy of the 2001 soundtrack on prominent display at the record store!