Product: A Clockwork Orange [VHS] (1972)
Rating: 4.0
Dated?! In your dreams
After 500+ reviews there is little one can say about "Clockwork Orange" that hasn't been said already; yes its violent, yes it is heavy on the dialect and yes it was made in the 70's and it shows. One thing that cannot be said about it is that it is dated. If anything it has increased in its relavence over the past 30 years.In the United States there is an ongoing push against incarcerating criminals, as evidenced by mandatory drug rehab programs, mandatory anger management programs, mandatory sex offender programs, etc. Because this is done in the name of "healing" there are few if any controls. Thus if a mandatory treatment program violates one's civil rights, compromises one's dignity or imposes a life-long label on a person no one argues. After all, who can argue with "healing." Just how far can society go in the name of "healing." Where is the line between health and moral issues? Between the need for public safety and personal freedom? These are questions every concerned citizen must ask.Many reviewers have commented on the violence of the film. Yes the main character is loathsome, a blot on civilized society, he is supposed to be. Does that make what "civilized society" has done to him right? That is the essential question of the movie. As long as some viewers cringe at the main character's plight and other's cheer, the question remains open and the movie remains relavent.