A disturbing, yet poignant film that only Kubrick could of directed.

Rating: 10/10 (16 November 2007)

Stanley Kubrick was a filmmaker who continually tried to both shock and amaze his audience, but most importantly he wanted people to come back again and again to unlock the layers of secrets hidden beneath his films. Plenty has been told regarding the impact of his A Clockwork Orange upon its original release, yet even looking at the film in it's own terms, it's easy to see why it's regarded as such a masterpiece. Kubrick adapted Anthony Burgess's equally brilliant book rather faithfully, but still giving the film his own mark. His films have been criticised for being cold and heartless, yet it's almost necessary for A Clockwork Orange to be filmed in such a style. Kubrick portrays his near-future as bleak and lacking the Utopian feel that most science-fiction writers were predicting. Reading the headlines in today's newspaper, the futuristic world depicted in A Clockwork Orange has unfortunately come true. This goes both for the portrayal of youthful aggression as well as the government's attempts to rid the world of it.
Teenage violence at its worst is personified in the lead character of A Clockwork Orange, Alex DeLarge (Malcolm McDowell). Alex is a parent's worst nightmare: He is cruel, violent, cold-blooded, but filled with intelligence, which he unfortunately does not put to better use. Alex romps around town with his gang of "droogs", raping and hurting innocent individuals just for the fun of it. One of the most disturbing (of many) sequences in the film is the scene in which is rapes a writer's wife while dancing and skipping along to "Singin' in the Rain." A seemingly innocent song about love is used in a means completely the opposite of its original intention, thus why it's such a disturbing part of the film. What's even worse is Alex knows that what he is doing is wrong, but his lack of conscience causes him to not care what society thinks of him and his ideas of fun. Kubrick's uncanny ability to seemingly combine beautiful classical music to a montage of horrifying comes into play in A Clockwork Orange, with Alex's admiration towards the works of "Ludwig van." Beethoven Ninth Symphony is turned from a wonderful piece of music to something particularly saddening as we learn how much this sadistic rapist obsesses over it and "As I slooshied, I knew such lovely pictures!" These so-called "lovely pictures" which contain such R-rated material as rape, violence and blood pouring out of Alex's fangs would probably scare Beethoven due to the way Kubrick so perfectly edits the images together.
Yet, there comes an interesting turn-around when Alex is arrested and sent to prison. Soon afterwards, the tone of the film completely changes as Alex begins to play nice and the film becomes far less disturbing and chaotic than the first act was. Alex wants to get back out into the world as quickly as possible and when he hears of a technique that will help him do so, he jumps to the chance. He is soon put in the Ludovico Technique, involving him being strapped to a chair, his eyes made un-shutable and forced to watch horrible acts of violence on a cinema screen. When Alex's beloved Ninth Symphony begins playing over images of Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party, it is then that the effects take hold. Even Alex of all people realises that he is an amateur compared to the atrocities the Nazis performed during the Holocaust. This leads to an effect more cruel than the Technique's creators possibly imagined: Not only is Alex drained of violence, but also of his love of fabulous music. Maybe Beethoven heaves a sigh of relief, but us the viewer is oddly starting to feel sorry for Alex. He may be unable to commit violent acts, but he is also unable to choose whether he wants to or not.
Stanley Kubrick launches on these themes perfectly as only he can. Other filmmakers would probably none too subtly through these into the viewer's face, but not Kubrick. Like many of his other films, he allows to slowly tear apart the film throughout multiple viewings and even let us interpret the film's views ourselves without him interfering. He just sits, stroking his beard and thinking "yes, that seems about right. What else do you have to say regarding the film?" Malcolm McDowell's performance also brings us into Alex's world, carefully pronouncing each word that Burgess created for his book so as not to make any mistake. Each subsequent viewing, we learn a new meaning for "nadsat" and see that it is more than just the way Alex communicates, but also a part of his rebellion against the world he tolerates so much of. Stanley Kubrick not only created a masterpiece worthy of plenty of conversation, but also a look at our world currently operates and ways we can resolve these problems without the need of brainwashing techniques.