A Dark, Violent and Twisted Masterpiece - Spoilers

Rating: 10/10 (10 November 2001)

Alex DeLarge(Malcolm McDowell) is a hoodlum in not-too-distant future London. As the tagline says, "His principal interests are rape, ultraviolence and Beethoven. He and his "droogs"(friends) often spend a lot of time away from home and out on the streets. They go out at night and have fun which means getting into fights with other gangs, commit random acts of violence, and "in-out"(rape) women. One night, when Alex comes out of some lady's house after beating her to death with a large statue, he is beaten up and betrayed by his droogs and is left to be arrested by the police. At the jail, Alex is informed that a woman that he had performed an "in-out" on had died at the hospital from her injuries. Alex is then sent to prison. While there, he reads the Bible(he only reads about the sex and violence) and dreams of getting out of prison. He then asks a preacher about an experiment that he had heard about at Ludovico that if successful, could possibly rid him of any violent or sexual impulses he might have. Soon enough he is sent to Ludovico. There he is forced to watch unedited footage of brutal beatings, rapes, and Nazi marches all the while with good old Ludwig van Beethoven's Ninth Symphony playing in the background. Alex comes out of Ludovico a changed man or is he?
This is actually the second film directed by the late Stanley Kubrick that I've watched with "Full Metal Jacket" being the first. Malcolm McDowell is truly awesome in his role as the sadistic, young Alex. Stanley Kubrick said he wouldn't been able to make this movie without him. Stanley Kubrick did take an awfully big chance with this movie. The violence here in "A Clockwork Orange" can simply be described as ultra. There are many brutal rape scenes and several bloody beatings. People who like Gene Kelly's "Singing in the Rain" may not like it anymore if they watch "A Clockwork Orange" because Malcolm McDowell sings it while kicking the crap out of an elderly man and raping his wife.
The musical score is the easily one of the best parts of "A Clockwork Orange". It is fantastic! The opening score is the one I like the most. The way it plays while Alex is looking into the camera with that half-smile, you wonder what exactly is going through his head at that moment. The "milk bar" or whatever it's called that Alex and his droogs are sitting at, is unique and yet ultimately frightening and disturbing at the same time.
The film's setting is apparently futuristic London, but it seems a lot like present day London. The reason it feels so much like present day is because of the clothing and all the cars and stuff like that. This feels a lot more like some sort of dark, comic satire than it does a science-fiction movie.
"A Clockwork Orange" certainly is a twisted work of art. It is now my favorite Stanley Kubrick film. As I said before Stanley Kubrick did take a chance making this movie. It probably could of either made or ended his career because of all the sex and violence that's in this movie.
"A Clockwork Orange" gets a 10/10