Highly Controversial & Disturbing.

Rating: 8/10 (15 September 2013)

Stanley Kubrick's adaptation of the Anthony Burgess novel must rank as one of the most controversial and disturbing mainstream films ever made. Story deals with a young hooligan named Alex(vividly brought to life by Malcolm McDowell) who leads a gang of vicious young British thugs as they mercilessly terrorize various innocent people, when their not fighting with other gangs. Alex breaks up the gang, and is captured by the authorities, who make him the willing subject of an experiment where all the aggressive thoughts are wiped from his mind, leaving him practically helpless later, when he is declared "cured" and sent back into society, where he will then reap what he has sewn...
Of course, that's part of the point, that unless you cure society of the very thing you would cure an individual, you will still be left with a problem. Seeing Alex get punished by those he victimized is without doubt satisfying(Charles Bronson would have shot these punks dead without a second thought in his "Death Wish" films!)So Kubrick puts the viewer in the exact position of the avenging victims, which can also be uncomfortable on reflection, but we know exactly what Alex did, though was that part of him really cured? Is it dead? Or can it be revived? The difference between violence being sanctioned or unsanctioned, depending on whether they work for the government or not(as some of the gang will...) Kubrick gives the audience much to consider in this shocking film, not always easy to watch(to say the least) but one that cannot be easily dismissed either, though it was banned for years, but can now be seen on DVD.