Product: A Clockwork Orange (1972)
Rating: 1.0
No Masterpiece
I'm not sure why I've given this movie one star. Perhaps it's because of McDowell's acting, which is good. When I saw the film in 1971 it made a big impact: 32 years later it says nothing at all. I'm not shocked by violence or nudity; it's just that it's a very poor work of art, empty of everything except design, ugly, repellent design. I'm beginning to think Kubrick must be the most overrated director of all time. As another reviewer has pointed out, his films seemed to get steadily worse and worse. And all of them have one thing in common: they are s-l-o-w. It seems to me that Kubrick was obsessive and dedicated, but just not very bright. He was also, apparently, intensely depressed about life. Still, it was clever of him to make such a big thing of these disadvantages. I suppose his films are worth seeing, once only. But after the first sensation of puzzled surprise, they just turn into hideously tedious sludge.