Charismatic crime drama where violence rages on

Rating: 9/10 (12 February 2010)

Alex (McDowell) and his gang run the streets at night but when he backfires on his friend they set him up, leading to his imprisonment and a shock scientific experiment.
Having enjoyed 2001: a space odyssey and eyes wide shut, I decided to give this a try, and Kubrick's unusual original conceptual nature is present here as we dive once more into an isolated character, in an isolated state of psyche.
Malcolm McDowell stars as Alex DeLarge, a man who lives for the night, hanging out with his posse of adrenaline packed cronies who beat up old folks, drink milk and occasionally attack and rape innocent people.
Perhaps in today's modern society that violent agenda in a young man isn't too shocking, especially when viewing films such as Kidulthood or watching Skins. But almost 40 years on from this film's initial release and ideologies such as rape, bullying and peer pressure are more in use in teenage social stance than ever.
Not that any of these concepts have any hindrance on the picture's entertainment value oh no. The unusual brutal nature of a clockwork orange's central character strengthens the plots ideal to develop a story upon violence, rage and personal injury. The opening shots of Alex and co in the bar drinking milk is a wonderful mislead that shows Kubrick technically perfect. The semiotics as something as harmless as sitting with a glass of milk is given a shake up through the narration and following montage of violence against a singing old drunkard that manifests itself as the plot soldiers on.
Violence, a key attribute in crime films these days, has certainly developed. Tarantino a key director and writer who has stabbed a nail into the coffin of rules and regulations has certainly taken notes from Kubrick. Here the violent point of view shots and expressions into the camera are echoing pulp fiction, the no nonsense verbal communication through vile discourse is excruciatingly plain.
The plot for this picture, whilst revolving around such strong crime and drama issues such as rape, drugs, violence, family and friends, maintains a slow moving prospect. There is never an inclination as to where the plot is heading, which makes it enjoyably enticing. Kubrick once more uses an isolated central character that proves to be a smashing ideal as through McDowell's rather insane thinker, we see and listen to the world through his eyes and be captivated by his motives, his joy and his misery.
The narration is by far one of the best you will ever hear in any film I can guarantee that. We see an insight into the character's mind and his rather unusual adaptation of British thinking. A worthy mention of the soundtrack as unsurprisingly it is brilliant and has an avid part to play, as does the encoding of manipulation and true colours of the crime and punishment script that have rather fittingly gone down in history as thought provoking and very memorable.