Sheer brilliance

Rating: 10/10 (8 April 2001)

For anyone who has not seen A Clockwork Orange, it is only fair to point out that the director, Stanley Kubrick, perhaps unwittingly made the U.S. version of Anthony Burgess' novel into film. Burgess seemed jaded that a significantly different ending was cut from his own intended version which for a while could only be found in the U.K.
Aside from the controversy of whether or not the film genuinely relays Burgess' own ideas, I think the film is so brilliant that there is something noteworthy to be observed with each subsequent viewing. It never loses its thunder. I have known a few people to get offended by the violence, but the film does have a sharp sense of satire and even slapstick. The ugliness arguably just mirrors the human condition--in which men "have been on the moon," yet have not conquered brutality on the streets or in the government for that matter.