If you felt bored or comfortable you didn't get it.

Rating: Null/10 (12 May 1999)

This film is meant to make the viewer uncomfortable, to think, to be repulsed by Alex, to feel sympathy for him, to feel tricked and betrayed by Kubrick - by the film itself, for allowing it to manipulate your feelings about violence, about retribution, about Alex and his kind. Just as the social workers toy with Alex, Kubrick toys with the viewer, first throwing violent scenes all involving helpless victims at the unsuspecting moviegoer, then later turning Alex himself into the helpless victim. As the film progresses, Kubrick continues to challenge any conclusions one may come to: viewers appalled at the behavior modification techniques used to "cure" Alex can conclude the solution is as awful as the crime. If you agree Alex should be reformed at any cost, then at the film's end, one of its many jokes is played on you. I heard rave reviews of the film after it came out in the early 70's, but didn't see it until 15 years later. After having wanted to see it for so long, I was disturbed at first by the repulsive violence and let down at my own dismay about the film. It wasn't until I taped it, and viewed it over and over, that I understood and experienced what Kubrick was intending. Repeated viewings also gave me a chance to appreciate each element of Kubrick's impeccable and always entertaining filmmaking. Anyone who is reacting mostly to the film's violence, either disgusted by it or unimpressed because it doesn't match the realism or intensity of violence on film today, hasn't really gotten it yet. Try watching again.