Product: A Clockwork Orange [VHS] (1972)
Rating: 5.0
Despite the obvious horror, a brilliant movie.
I am not a fan of this movie and after seeing it once I doubt if I ever will again. However, my horror and revulsion does not detract, in my mind, from the true brilliance in this movie. It is true that this is a disturbing and horrific story and that Kubric does manipulate our revulsion to bring us into greater fear, but all of that makes sense and is consistent.The images, the pauses, the silence, the pictures in this movie are all well orchestrated and suit their purpose. Kubrick makes you feel, he brings you into areas of yourself you are not comfortable with and he shows you a side of society you pray does not exist, but unfortunately does.I did feel sympathy for Malcolm MacDowell's character at the end of the movie. The experiences he has in prison are horrible. This raises many interesting and unnerving questions about the nature of the prison system and how prisoners should be treated. You do not forget how evil this man is but you also are not blind to his human pain threshold and his torture. He remains a human being, even if he has chosen to behave by instincts which are unsuitable.This movie is extremely disturbing, but never gratuitous. Kubrick does an excellent job of exposing the evil in the story and making it luccid, plain and cold while still maintaining a subtlety and ambiguity which provokes debate. This is probably his best work.