An eye for an eye

Rating: 9/10 (14 October 2002)

This is such a numbing film. The life of Alex is a sadistic satire, he is the anti-hero. In so many films, we gouge entertainment from gangsters, thieves, convicts, whoever, and their activities (not to say some of the greatest films ever made haven't done this). We stylise what they do and make them sophisticates when they are monsters, and this film recognises this.
Everything about this film, from Alex's world to the punishments inflicted by his government, seems as though it is a despairing thought clawed from the back of Kubrick's mind, defeat in a storm of fascism and anarchy and other advertised solutions that never work. Despair that the human race is naturally inclined to destroy itself. It is dark, filthy, mesmerisingly weird, but somehow brilliant.
I stared at the screen long after the conclusion, remembering Alex's chilling 'singing in the rain'. If you care, this will leave an impression on you.