Hate the ending, love everything else

Rating: 8/10 (25 November 2015)

Having read Anthony Burgess's original novel before seeing this, I must say that Stanley Kubrick, one of my personal favorite directors, had done a great job adapting it. When the book fell short in detail, Kubrick took the opportunity to portray the world of Alex the Large with stunning sets filled with sexual imagery and disturbing surrealism. While there is no real concrete reason for this, it helps create the bizarre atmosphere of "A Clockwork Orange". All of Kubrick's original touches ("Siiiiingin' in the rain!") add to the story rather than take away from it, though Burgess would never admit it. "Clockwork Orange" is one of the most visually striking films of all time. The camera angles are distorted and uncomfortable, with iconic shots such as Alex's smug stare into the camera from beneath his eyebrows, and the phallic nose of his mask sticking out into the line of sight of his most unfortunate victim. Also triumphant is the soundtrack, which combines synthesized droning (especially "The Funeral of Queen Mary", one of my favorite movie themes) with the works of Beethoven so beloved by Alex. On a visual and aural level, this film is a masterpiece.
However, there are several problems with this film, which I must address. I could never get behind the actual story. For those who don't know, the original novel had a final chapter, an epilogue of sorts, which basically shows Alex giving up crime and becoming not only a hardworking citizen of the community, but a father. Burgess wanted to include this to give the novel a "happy ending" and tie it together with what he considered the book's ultimate theme: redemption. However, it was scrapped by American editors since they wanted a darker ending, and Kubrick went with it. For me, both of these endings are terrible. I will explain why.
Burgess's ending, while technically redeeming Alex, fails to make him sympathetic at all. Alex never regrets his actions of "ultra- violence", he simply decides that he's tired of it one day and that's the end of that. It is almost to suggest that assault, gang wars, and rape are just a part of growing up that every teenager goes through and should always be forgiven. In a way, this "happy ending" gives a horrifying lesson. With Kubrick's ending, Alex is magically cured of his conditioning through "sleep learning", and he simply goes back to committing crimes. What's the problem with this? While I don't mind a dark and grim ending, I dislike this ending because it's almost like the story never happened. When all is said and done, no character learns anything, the setting never really changes, and it is exactly like the beginning. I believe that violates the most basic tenets of storytelling. If a story is attempting to get a message across, at least make the main character change in some way. I know Kubrick couldn't resist giving a cynical ending, but that's just bad storytelling.
In my opinion, a much better ending would have been to cut to credits the moment after Alex attempted suicide. If Alex was driven to madness by his conditioning and killed himself, this would serve not only as retribution for all his terrible actions, but would give the slightest chance for the audience to pity him. I don't know what Burgess or Kubrick were going for, but I never once, while watching, thought "Alex doesn't deserve this." I felt bad, sure, out of instinctual fear of domination, pain, and humiliation. But what he goes through is a slap on the wrist when compared to the atrocities he himself has committed. I don't buy the ridiculous claim that Mr. Alexander "stooped down to Alex's level" by driving him insane; he was getting long-awaited revenge on the guy who brutally raped his wife and indirectly caused her death. And again, from a storytelling perspective, a death is a much more powerful ending, and may have actually driven home the whole message about redemption and free will, rather than having Alex smugly return to society with barely a scratch on his body or psyche.
I give this film 8 out of 10 stars purely for the fantastic work that went into the creation of this movie. The film's graphic "ultra-violence" and "the old in-out-in-out", which most people have very strong opinions on, is neither loved nor hated by me. I don't see it as pure exploitation, but it isn't for artistic purposes either; it is the harsh, nightmarish visuals needed to punctuate the story. In some cases, it is actually toned down from the book (Alex molests two underage girls and is later raped by his friends). Alex himself, for all my problems with his development, is a very cunning love-to-hate-him villain protagonist, portrayed brilliantly by Malcolm McDowell. While I think the film has some other problems, like its oh-so-deep message on free will (I think it's a pile of cal), it is aesthetically one of my favorites of all time. My problems don't exactly ruin the film for me, and if I don't think too hard about the story, I see it as a work of pure art. "A Clockwork Orange" is very good in its own right, but it's one interesting lesson short of perfect. So that's the gist of my slovos on this sinny! High time to go out and filly with the droogs, and sod with the ptitsas real horrorshow!