a disturbing film

Rating: Null/10 (8 June 2003)

Kubrick had veered towards the disturbing in his movie plots before (the paedophilic in "Lolita", the insane and corrupt in "Dr Strangelove", the menace of technology in "2001"). In "A Clockwork Orange" he takes this to the limit in his story of Alex Burgess, a cultured psychopath (he listens to Beethoven and speaks in an unusual patois to his 'droogs') who is seen carrying out various attacks, rape, and eventually murder over two nights, before he is sent to prison and added to an intensive programme of torture and rehabilitation. The first third of the film deals with the atrocities he carries out before his arrest, but the bulk of Kubrick's vision centres on the methods employed by the state to turn Alex into a reformed character, incapable of response and filled only with the desire to do good. After release he leaves only to find further torments await.

The characters, apart from Alex (played brilliantly by Malcolm McDowell), are little more than cyphers, cartoon characters on the periphery of his life. These include Warren Clarke as one of his 'droogs', Adrienne Costi and Miriam Karlin as his victims, Steven Berkoff as a police thug, David Prowse as a sinister carer, and Clive Francis as the oily lodger who has taken Alex's place in his parents' flat. Only Patrick Magee as the liberal writer who plays a pivotal role in Alex's life early and late in the film has a meaty role amongst the remaining cast.
Is the film any good, and worth the hype after all these years of officially being unseen? Hard to say. Kubrick uses music again to good effect as he had throughout "2001", and the message from Anthony Burgess' original novel comes through. However, "A Clockwork Orange" has to be viewed with mixed feelings, both for the subject matter and for the antihero himself. My guess is the final jury will remain out for a long time yet.