Product: A Clockwork Orange [VHS] (1972)
Rating: 5.0
A satiric masterpiece
This is Stanley Kubrick's highly visual adaptation of Anthony Burgess's classic novel. A panorama of colorful sets, striking images and jarring uses of symphonic and synthesized music, it was clearly ahead of its time. The first thing most viewers notice (and, unfortunately, the only thing that some people remember) is the film's fascination with graphic violence and rape. In the first twenty minutes or so, young hoodlum Alex and his droogs (friends) have beaten up an old tramp, engaged in a brutal fight with a rival gang, and beaten an aging writer while raping his wife. The state's remedy for such misconduct is the experimental "Ludovico" technique, a form of behavior control which Kubrick implies is just as barbaric and pointless as the original crimes. If one isn't bothered by the frequent glimpses of savagery and nudity, A CLOCKWORK ORANGE is a fascinating film. Like another of Kubrick's masterworks, 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY, this movie is a creative visual feast, but of a much darker tone.