Nature Or Nurture? Kubricks Second Masterpiece

Rating: 9/10 (2 January 2008)

An engaging journey through the mind of a deranged schizophrenic and the ever present worry of an ever present government in search of control, A Clockwork Orange is as beautiful as it is disturbing, as thought provoking as it is mind shattering and as wonderful as it is brilliant. While fans of both Kubrick and cinema (although I hasten to add that in my personal opinion the two are intrinsically entwined) may, and no doubt shall, debate which out of 'A Clockwork' and '2001' is the superior masterpiece, Clockwork certainly, at first, hits the viewer hardest with its blatant head cracking ideas thrust into your minds like subliminal messages.
I would like to state I can understand why there are those that detest this film, or those who fail to see the merits of Clockwork. It is without doubt a very seminal, very brutal, very aggressive and very hard hitting film (not 'just' in terms of violence) yet the scenes of torture, rape and the ultra violence while still powerful in terms of ideas are not off putting to the point of grotesqueness in terms of cinematic viewing, the point being - it works. But to not like this film is to miss the point entirely.
I have spent time sifting through countless reviews on the negative side of these boards, and yes there is violence, yes it will play with your mind and yes, as one reviewer pedantically complains, it puts Beethovens 9th to a somewhat distorted use, but 'only' ostensibly. Beethovens 9th is truly a beautiful composition, his most well known and arguably one of, if not, his greatest, but the use of it is realised fully once Alex has gone through his therapy. For Alex it is the piece of music which is tainted, he finds not the images of The Third Reichs on-goings disturbing but the "sin" of using Beethoven to this passage. He does, and cannot differentiate the morality of the violence he acts and perceives but he recognises the beauty of Beethoven he fails to see in people, while we as an audience are eternally aware of the wrong doings, which leads on to my next point...
Many complain that we are forced to sympathise with a criminal rapist and murderer, that come the films conclusion we are somehow on his side, and this is never the case. We are never sympathetic towards the character, we merely pity him. We never sympathise with him because of choice. As many know, A Clockwork Orange at its heart is the story of state control versus free will, but at such extreme ends of the spectrum that it can off-put some. Alex never redeems himself by never choosing the morally correct path, his "redemptive" attempts in the prison and his willingness to partake in the therapy are merely ploys to earn himself an early reprieve. So, in turn when he is 'cured' by the state, he is never actually cured his moral compass is still pointing in a negative direction it is merely that he is unable to act on his impulses as a human, which provides some great moments of irony in the latter stages.
A Clockwork Orange is too detailed a film to thoroughly and properly dissect in the alloted word space, and even if tripled, quadrupled etc etc chances are a coherent conclusion would never be attained, there is so much going on. You are left not only debating internally the free mind versus state control argument but you also end up taking a very Marxist philosophy on Alex as an individual; has he chosen this life, or is he a by-product of society? Is it nature or nurture? Regardless of answers or opinions, A Clockwork Orange is a very thought provoking, very intelligent, very skillfully created, directed and composed piece of art that deserves critical plaudits as a truly great film which can rank up unashamed with 2001. For those that view cinematic entertainment as popcorn with CGI sequences of continual action then this will annoy and likely disappoint you, and for those that will not look past this films exterior I am sorry you missed out, but this is cinematic entertainment at its purest, thoughtful and thought-out theatre which will play with your mind, and you may not even know it.