Far ahead of its time

Rating: 10/10 (26 June 2005)

Aside from its terrifying vision of a lawless future driven by a sociopathic addiction to "ultra- violence", this movie makes some astounding statements about the lengths governments are willing to take to reassert their control over society. The violence in this movie is so overblown that its impossible to believe - the point of it is to make us consider where urban society is moving and how morality has changed in the minds of future young people. The fact that Alex is so obsessed with Beethoven ties him to classical Western ideals, but he uses the music to get pumped up for a night out with friends, raping and murdering the elders he has no need to respect.
But things get really interesting once the Brits decide to forcibly change Alex's ultra-violent desires. He reenters society unable to cope with the violence he was a product of, and takes refuge at the very home of a former victim. The dramatic irony at the end couldn't be better. When the government realizes that their new celebrity almost killed himself because of their treatment, they protect Alex and indict the victim. While the viewer finds some poetic justice in Alex's brutal treatment by the man he put in a wheelchair, the government can't make him look like anything other than a success story... Alex is the ultimate winner.
I don't know how much credit to give to Anthony Burgess or Kubrick, but the whole concept of this film is striking. Out of control kids, an insane treatment for morality, and the complete abandonment of ethics in the name of "reducing crime" are problems we face today. This movie is about the future and what we could resort to if need be - the bigger problem it attacks is how to shape an ethical society in the modern world. Religion isn't the answer anymore.