Product: A Clockwork Orange [VHS] (1972)
Rating: 4.0
Save England
Brilliant cinematography; I always love seeing a well-thought-out (not-entirely-) fantasy world. Always hated the (ab-)use of The Thieving Magpie by Rossini; the piece is simply a fun, boisterous diversion. I'm sure that Kubrick meant that to highlight the droogs' pursuit of boisterous fun, but the piece doesn't fit the film and the film doesn't fit the piece. Out of place and ruins the moment. The moog-Beethoven is another idea that looked better on paper. It mutes the tones and the beauty, and the futuristic sounds are jarring and stilted; I know that's the point, but give us the full-on traditional symphony orchestra, we'll fill in the irony ourselves, given the context. As with the Lord of the Flies, this film could only be peopled by Britons; a country with such a pronounced and deeply felt sense of morals, which has been so badly betrayed by its violent elements. Unlike America, which always seeks to rationalize its mistreatment of others because of its desire to be perfect, the violent Briton seems simply to revel in being contrary. The horror of this cautionary tale is enlarged with the fact of the government addressing the problem with an incomplete understanding and a faulty tactic. Like so many others on this site, I can't watch this film, or others like Trainspotting, over and over. This is not the Britain I was raised to believe in. It may be all too true-to-life, but you football mafia thugs out there, make it stop. Treat people well. You're destroying Britain, and you're betraying it.