A remarkable work of art!

Rating: Null/10 (31 August 2002)

WARNING: SOME SPOILERS ARE PRESENT IN THIS REVIEW
Stanely Kubrick's undisputed masterpiece is an eye-popping extraordinare.
Kubrick's point here is a strike against a society filled with sex and violence. He was ahead of his time, as this whole film is. He fights fire with fire for shocks with a plentiful amount of the two.

His poster child for the dark subject is a misfit punk named Alex. He goes out at night on sprees of violence and rape with his "droogs" who follow him. On one particular night out, they rape and kill a man's wife right in front of his eyes.
Alex's "droogs" are very attatched to him. He doesn't treat him as equals at all, in fact, he hurts them.
This very much symbolizes a society that chooses to follow in a dark past that will later come back to haunt them.
Alex is eventually caught and sent into a special correctional facility where he will be a guiney pig for a new experiment in justice to criminals. This experiment is complicated, but seems it will be effective. It has Alex watching, over and over again, very violent films that are similar to the sprees he used to go on. He is eventually very disturbed and soon becomes ill when he gets cravings to pursue his activities of old.

This may seem like a good way in stopping criminals, but it turns out to be ineffective. This is a way of showing that sex and violence is a problem in society that will never be fixed.
There will be people on both sides of the subject. This is shown through the man whose wife was victimized in front of his eyes. Later in the film, Alex goes back to his home and is unrecognized because the former time he was wearing a mask. The man finds out that he has been, in a way, tortured by law enforcement. He nurtures Alex out of pity, but later changes sides when he figures out the whole story.
Kubrick masterfully depicts the subject he has in many, many ways. The final shot of the film shows two women having sex and there are photographers lined up, taking pictures of them.
The film is filled with a lot of woderful, extra things to admire. First off, there is an original use of made-up dialect that comes straight from the Burgess novel. I had to watch the DVD with subtitles on, just to catch everything. The cinematography is gorgeous as well.
This is a largely groundbreaking film and one of the most accomplished works of Stanely Kubrick.
I must caution, however, that this film is extremely violent. It is very disturbing and unsettling and definately not for all tastes. It was made back in 1971, but still remains grotesque (even by today's standards).
Kubrick's way of combatting sex and violence is brutal, but ultimately effective. It is hard to stomach, but is a brave, powerful and important film.
This film was extremely controversial when it was released. It was banned in Brittain and given an "X" rating in America. It was a film that helped pave a new path in filmmaking. It is one of the films that would shape cinema forever. Definately one of the very best movies I've ever seen.