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A Clockwork Orange (1971)
Being the
adventures of a young man whose principal interests are
rape, ultra-violence and Beethoven.
Director:
Stanley Kubrick,
rated R for rape, nudity, disturbing violence
  Starring:
Malcolm McDowell, Patrick Magee, Michael Bates, Warren Clarke, John Clive,
Adrienne Corri, Carl Duering, Paul Farrell, Clive Francis, Michael Glover,
Miriam Karlin, James Marcus, Aubrey Morris, Godfrey Quigley, Sheila Raynor
DML Rating:
★★★★★★★★☆☆
- great
"Suddenly, I
viddied what I had to do, and what I had wanted to do, and that
was to do myself in; to snuff it, to blast off for ever out of
this wicked, cruel world. One moment of pain perhaps and, then,
sleep for ever, and ever and ever." - Alex
Why watch this?
This is Kubrick's dystopian ode to violence.
Plot Summary: Set in
a dystopian future Britain, the film follows Alex, a charismatic
but sadistic delinquent who spends his nights leading a gang in
acts of extreme, gratuitous violence. After being betrayed by
his followers and imprisoned for murder, he volunteers for an
experimental aversion therapy program developed by the
government to cure criminal desires. Upon his release back into
society, a deeply transformed Alex must navigate a world filled
with his vengeful former victims, manipulative politicians, and
old associates who test his absolute inability to commit
violence.
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Dad's Preview:
If you are looking for a nice movie about love and
puppies, you might want to skip this homage to all that
bad in human nature. Set in the near future, we find
Britain awash in crime and gangs of ruffians who fight
and rape at will. Malcolm McDowell is the leader of one
such gang, and he represents the worst of us. He's
captured by the police and endures a brain-washing
session to "make him good." It's all horribly
disturbing. There are no heroes or good guys. It's a
over-sexualized future nobody would want. So what is the
film's director saying to his audience? Kubrick wanted
us to consider the dangers to humanity's free will when
totalitarian governments impose psychological
conditioning on criminals. It's a good point. Does the
government do more harm than good when attempting to
"fix" troubled individuals. I didn't like this film 20
years ago, and it took all I could muster to watch
recently. Aside from McDowell's performances, there is
too much of a savage, mean-spiritedness at play, and
that exhausts me... thank goodness, I must be sane. |
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Polaris
Productions, Hawk Films; Warner Bros.
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