Product: A Clockwork Orange [VHS] (1972)
Rating: 5.0
Viddy This!
"A Clockwork Orange" is an envelope-pushing, eye-opening satire on society by Stanley Kubrick. Viewers may point to "2001" or "Dr. Strangelove" as his best film, but for me, "A Clockwork Orange" was the movie that had Kubrick at the very top of his game as a filmmaker. It's visually stunning, profoundly disturbing, exceedingly violent, and, in a warped way, downright hilarious. Malcolm McDowell is Alex DeLarge, a troubled youth who spends his day blowing off school and his evenings with his "droogs," committing the most despicable of crimes. Following a botched attempt to burglarize and rape a woman, Alex is arrested, tried, and jailed before he is used as a guinea pig for an experimental rehabilitation program that supposedly "cures" criminals. He goes through the treatment, is released from prison, and the world that once embraced him gives him a very cold shoulder. But did this treatment really "cure" Alex? I won't reveal more, but I will say that this movie is completely unmissable. I have been reading reviews from others who complain about the film's nonstop violence. I think Kubrick pumped up the violence deliberately to properly articulate the horror of Alex's actions. If that bothers you, then rent "Harry Potter." For the rest of us, "A Clockwork Orange" is a straight-up classic that's one of my very favorite movies ever. It's a landmark in cinema that shouldn't be overlooked.