I didn't thin it was the masterpiece it's made to be but I still thought it was a very good film.

Rating: 6/10 (26 February 2011)

A Clockwork Orange is set in England in the near future where the teenage thug Alex (Malcolm McDowell) & his gang of Drrogs roams the streets beating up, killing & raping anyone they like. After murdering a woman (Miriam Karlin) with a giant penis Alex is caught by the police, convicted of murder & sentenced to fourteen years in prison. After spending two years in prison Alex agrees to take part in revolutionary Ludovico Treatment which psychologically conditions violent & sexual urges, after a two week treatment course Alex is released completely cured. However Alex finds himself in a harsh world unable to make any moral choice, unable to fight back or protect himself Alex is beaten up & left for dead. Seeking help Alex finds himself at the house of writer Frank Alexander (Patrick Magee) whom was left crippled by Alex & his Droogs several years earlier, Frank decides to try & make Alex commit suicide & both gain revenge & bring the Government down in a blaze of bad publicity...
This American & English co-production was written & directed by Stanley Kubrick based on the novel by Anthony Burgess, one of the more controversial films released by a major studio A Clockwork Orange has quite a reputation & while in terms of violence & sex it can't really hope to compare with more recent offerings this is a fine film that has meaning, intelligence & makes a statement that is still relevant even now over forty years after it was originally made. Now that's visions, right? The social political story about rampant youth crime, overcrowded prisons, victims rights, rehabilitation, probation, psychiatric cures, the breakdown of the family unit & law & order feels totally contemporary & you can see that the Kubrick's vision of a future Britian really isn't that far off from the way things are now with all the issues & themes raised in A Clockwork Orange still relevant today, if not even more so than back in 1971. From inmates using the bible to fuel their sexual & violent fantasies to the corruption & underhand use of the system, from Alex starting out as a thug & then being cured only for a public media outcry which claim Alex's human rights have been violated while ignoring his victims so he is simply to be at the end to carry on as a thug free as a bird. I found the issues & themes very timely & the film as a whole fascinating to watch but at two & a quarter hours long it goes on forever, I doubt I would want to sit through it again & Alex goes from monster to hero & back again so your never quite sure what to feel for him but I suspect this was intentional on Kubrick's part & is admittedly done in a clever & manipulative way. Although always watchable & engaging some may find A Clockwork Orange a little slow at times & the strange language which is apparently a mix of English, Russian & slang may be off-putting for some although I always new what was being spoken about & thought the abstract dialogue was rather entertaining & very amusing in places.
While the issues & themes in A Clockwork Orange haven't dated at all what about the visual look of the film? Well, apart from some bad 70's colours & technology this still looks great & hasn't dated badly at all. There are some great scenes, some poetic violence set to classical music like when two rival gangs of thugs fight each other to Rossini's Thieving Magpie & Alex's liking for Ludwig Van Beethoven's ninth means it's used throughout. The Ludovico treatment scene has Alex strapped into a chair with metal hooks holding his eyes open in what must have been an incredibly painful & uncomfortable scene to film.
With a supposed budget of about $2,200,000 A Clockwork Orange turned out to be one of the biggest money makers of 1971, nominated for four Oscar's & seven BAFTA's it actually won none of either. Filmed here in England almost entirely on location, Woolwich Barracks prison was used for the interior prison scenes while the exterior was actually Wandsworth prison. The acting is very good, I am sure McDowell suffered for the part both physically & mentally. Having said that everyone seems to shout a lot & everyone plays it over the top with some funny facial expressions.
A Clockwork Orange is a really good film, I would maybe stop just short of calling it a classic or even a great film as it's a bit too long & the artsy mix of culture & violence & sex may put some off. The themes & issues are bang on & it's a clever film by a visionary filmmaker but as I said, I don't think I would want to see it again.