State of mind

Rating: 10/10 (24 May 2019)

I tried to watch this a couple of years ago - I couldn't. I just couldn't, because what I saw in the first minutes was too much for me. Now while some say that the violence is so over the top and dated it does nothing anymore to the viewer nowadays, I have to strongly disagree. The interviews on the disc are quite nice and the audio commentary is revealing quite a few things, as is the very in-depth look into Malcolm McDowell (with Q&A and other stuff).
So after 10-15 minutes I had to stop - and everyone kept telling me, that there would be some redemption for all that mayhem. And in a way they were right - though also wrong. Especially considering the real ending to the book. And while I have not yet read that, the extras told me about it. But while you may feel blue about that, the movie could not have ended any other way. And Kubrick again is able to manipulate his audience, making them feel stuff (which incidentally they should not like at all - most of the things they are feeling - and maybe even feel a bit of guilt).
It's also nice to hear, that Kubrick was open to ideas. And that he obviously had a conscience, which is something many thought he had not - especially watching this movie. So there are a few moments that were improvised but there were of course everything staged - and one of the biggest things is the sexual component in the movie - which has a big part combined with all the violence. There is too much sexual objects and hints - one might say it was kind of foreboding ... but then again, it seems to be human nature overall, so he just took something that was there and ran with it.
There's so much to depict here - set design, framing/cinematography, dialog, mood, acting ... you could write about so many things, that all culminate in a great movie - if you can stomach to watch it of course