The Most Accurate Social Prophecy in Movie History

Rating: 9/10 (20 July 2001)

Kubrick has an excellent way of directing films that seem, to me, to be prophecies. A Clockwork Orange is a remarkable film that, 25 years later, is all too relevant in the UK, as bands of thugs who live on faceless estates DO roam the streets fighting and torturing the general public for 'fun'.
Where 2001 was a good look forward into our technological future - it failed socially, we still have no real interest in setting up base on the moon - A Clockwork Orange is a fine look forward into our social future (or present, if you believe the doomsayers).
This is one of those films which requires multiple viewings, as other reviewers have pointed out. The language uses slang well, and Kubrick seems to have realised that language -would- change significantly over the next 20 years after this film was released. He guessed correctly, and even though we don't use the slang that is present in this film, we can relate to it since it is as alien to us as our current slang would be to Alex and his droogs.
The wonderful Moloko 'milk bar' is also an excellent touch. This place seems extremely weird to us, but our new nightclubs and 'raves' would be just as alien to someone in the 70s. All in all, Kubrick has realised that things would change over the years, so he went ahead and made his own guesses.
The interference of the 'State' in all parts of this film is also extremely representative of today's Britain. We lose freedoms in return for supposed 'security', but in fact these securities don't make us feel very secure at all, and in turn it just leads to more thuggery and violence of the sort seen in this film.
There is one snafu, however. The community in the film actually seems closer and friendlier than that of current Britain. For example, the school principal actually seems to care for Alex, despite knowing his history.
All in all, the best social prophecy ever made and, in my opinion, Kubrick's second best film (behind 2001).