KUBRICK'S TRUE MASTERPIECE

Rating: 10/10 (26 October 2003)

"...Kubrick can do everything. He is a great director who has not yet made his great film...." -Orson Welles 1965
This is one unforgettable picture. It has been praised, hated, and argued about since its release. A CLOCKWORK ORANGE is loved by critics, filmmakers, film-students, and dumb goth kids. It is hated by other critics, other filmmakers, other film-students, and dumb religious freaks. Kubrick has always been controversial, here most of all. The cause of the heat surrounding the picture is that no one can agree on what the movie is really saying. The film was hot enough to be nominated for Oscars, but too hot to win them (strange, since MIDNIGHT COWBOY won two years before).
Let's get down to it. The film itself is terrific. Kubrick's cold, objective style brings the viewer the spellbinding tale of a violent, drug abusing punk in an England of the future who gets screwed by a system that longs to regain control. Anthony Burges's book provides a language that accounts for so much quotable dialogue, Kubrick's camera gives us a stark Pop Art future that is a stage for our players without overwhelming them, and Malcolm McDowell gives one of the best psychopath performances that's ever hit the screen. Viewers come away with "Singin' in the Rain" on their lips and a terrifying treatment on their minds. It makes Beethoven take on a whle new meaning! You won't soon forget this.
The film's depiction of sex and violence made this a forbidden item in 1971. But the blood and nudity do not justify the initial X rating. The MPAA wasn't willing to admit it those days that they rated films for their mood and ideas rather than their actual content. The picture is certainly not pornography and it's not a horror film. This is a well crafted film about the problems with society and the justice system. Everyone should see this at least once.