Viddy well little brother, Viddy well!

Rating: 10/10 (15 August 2001)

Mild SPOILERS
A Clockwork Orange is one of the most important documents of violence produced in the last fifty years. Never has a film divided opinions, enraged debates, and caused such moral outrage than this 1971 masterpiece. What else is there to say about the story and cult status of this film, probably very little, but what I really want to make light of with this film is the power it still retains thirty years after it's release. "If man cannot choose between good and evil does he cease to be a man" - that is the main argument of A Clockwork Orange, and that is the question that little Alex (Malcolm McDowell) must confront, as his own violence places him in prison. The film also looks at the troubles of teenage violence, who's to blame, society, the parents, the education system - the film says so much about the state of Britain in the 1970's, and with the growing boom in punk culture that would follow in the later part of the decade and the race riots and work strikes that would populate the early eighties, it's influence lived on.

Kubrick was never a director afraid to take a risk, this was his follow up to 2001: a space odyssey (1968), it cost a mere $2 million dollars, how many directors can claim to make a risk like that, very few that I can think of. Which makes it all the more surprising whilst watching A Clockwork orange, with the fact that Kubrick was a man of his forties when he made the film, yet he has such an understanding of his young characters, he puts us with the evil droogs and still manages to make us care something for them. This was of course the problem with the film. Kubrick making us feel empathy for these amoral characters made the film one of the most controversial ever made (in Britain mainly) it seamed to be a culmination of all the problems that seemed to be around at the time - of course, as we all know now - Kubrick withdrew it.
Flash forward to 2001, and how does this film hold up... Well there are many scenes that appear dated, but they also work with the disorientating look of the film, the cold atmosphere that followed all of Kubrick's films, the slightly dangerous detachment that the viewer is forced to undergo (the rape of Mrs Alexander for instance must be one of the hardest scene's to watch), not for graphic depiction, we see very little of the action, but for how Kubrick shoots the film, the iconography, the lighting, the forced perspectives the camera takes, everything is purposely set up to achieve a certain reaction from the viewer. Also, but this mainly comes form Anthony Burgess' novel, but the two act structure carries the film excellently. Kubrick would also employ this to great effect in Full Metal Jacket (1987)... But with A Clockwork Orange it really drives the message home.

The first half is a joyously fast forty minutes, cut to a frantic, almost non-stop music score. The second half, much slower, much more silent, as if Kubrick is showing us what kind of pain Alex is going through, even if his character hides it under charm and constant exuberance. I would definitely rank this as one of the best film ever made, it certainly takes multiple viewing for the full power of the film to be revealed, to break deep into the meanings and issues the film explores, way too much to even begin to touch upon here. Oddly enough in these modern days, the scariest thing about A Clockwork Orange is nothing that stems from the screen, but the growing notion that we are closer to the reality of Alex with every day...
Viddy well little brother, Viddy Well!
10/10