Product: A Clockwork Orange [VHS] (1972)
Rating: 5.0
Violence makes violence
If 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY was Stanley Kubrick's most affirmative look at the future, A CLOCKWORK ORANGE is definitely a 180-degree turnaround.This still-controversial film, based on Anthony Burgess' equally controversial 1962 novel, revolves around Alex (Malcolm McDowell), the leader of a group of "droogs" whose idea of fun is robbing, raping, and beating people senseless in a London of the near-future. But when McDowell is captured by the law, tried, and sentenced, in order to get an early release, he undergoes the Ludovico treatment, which is designed to cure him of his impulses toward sex and violence. The problem is that this politically correct form of brainwashing also cripples him to an extent that he can't defend himself against his former tormentors, who are now out for revenge against him.A CLOCKWORK ORANGE caused a furor over its no-holes-barred sex and violence, which briefly earned it an 'X' rating in America, before Kubrick trimmed it ever so slightly for an 'R'. But what is far more disturbing than the overt content of the film is its challenging questions. Is the State really justified in rehabilitating criminals by brainwashing them? Are people like McDowell's Alex really that much worse than those who would try to get revenge on him? Is law and order worth squashing free will, even if some of us abuse it?Kubrick raises these questions in his usual challenging fashion, punched up here by his unique uses of classical music pieces, including the second and fourth movements of Beethoven's 9th in ways one never dreamed this piece could be used. Often scathing in its satire and a definite slap against right-wing politicos on both sides of the Atlantic, A CLOCKWORK ORANGE remains disturbing but compulsive watching even after thrity years.