A Clockwork Orange (Directed by Stanley Kubrick, 1971) Adapted from the cult novel by Anthony Burgess, Stanley Kubrick's A Clockwork Orange is a cinematic tour-de-force. A truly influential film, it is a masterpiece of modern filmmaking. It is an astonishing, unsettling examination of a young violent punk's behaviorial transformation from criminal, to moral citizen, back to criminal. Set in an anonymous city in England in the not too distant future, the film opens with an unforgettable and haunting image of our main character Alex, played by Malcolm McDowell (Cat People, Caligula) sitting in the Korova Milkbar. The Korova, whose furniture consists of sculptures of naked submissive women, serves milk laced with drugs to Alex and his three "droogs" (hooligan friends) Georgie, Pete and Dim. I should note the characters in the film, like the book speak in an invented slang labeled "Nadsat" which is a combination of Russian and English. The gang of ruffians, dressed in white with black derby hats and wearing giant codpieces, drink the milk to "sharpen you up for a bit of the old ultra-violence". Led by Alex, they roam the streets robbing, raping and beating anyone who crosses their path. We then witness a beating of a helpless drunk, a gang fight which erupts when Alex's clan interrupt a raping of a young woman by a rival group, and a memorable, disturbing scene of a beating of a husband (Patrick Magee) and rape of his wife (Adrienne Corri) with Alex mimicking Gene Kelley's "Singin in the Rain".
A division develops in the group when the droogs no longer wish to take orders from Alex. While walking along the river, Alex hears Beethoven, his favorite composer echoing out of one of the nearby windows. Inspired by the lovely music, he figures he will cement his position as "leader" by beating, knifing, and throwing his pals in the river. The next night, in retaliation for Alex's attack,the droogs set Alex up during a botched robbery/rape. He is smashed across the face with a drug laced milk bottle and left for the police to discover. He is arrested and sentenced to fourteen years in prison. Alex, who is a model prisoner, gains the prison chaplain's trust and is informed of a way to shorten his sentence. He submits to a controversial governmental behavior modification treatment called the Ludovico Technique. Placed in a large viewing hall, Alex is outfitted with a straightjacket and has his eyelids pinned so he can not blink or close his eyes. The treatment commences with the subject being exposed to endless images of sex and violence while filling his body full of drugs that cause feelings of nausea. The desired effect of all of this is to develop a Pavlovian-like response to amoral and criminal activities. All violent and sexual tendencies will now be linked to an intolerable sickness. Music of Beethoven is also heard throughout the entire process, consequently leading to the same feeling of nauseasness whenever his music is heard. Upon completion of the process, the brainwashed delinquent is fit to re-enter society. After many "treatments" and a humiliating demonstration of the "new" Alex, complete with government officials, he is set free. Ironically, Alex eventually encounters all of the people he has wronged in the past and is unable to defend himself. He is attacked by a group of old drunks, beaten and left for dead by two of his former droogs who have become policemen, and ends up in the same house where he brutally raped the wife of a now crippled man (the result of Alex's earlier terror). At first the crippled old man, who takes Alex in and assists in his rehabilitation from the police beating, does not recognize him, but as Alex takes a bath, he sings "Singin in the Rain" and the old man's horrible memories come back to him. Alex is then locked in a room while Beethoven's 9th Symphony is blasted throughout the house. Unable to bear the nausea, he attempts suicide by jumping out of the window. We then cut to a hospital where we learn Alex has been re-conditioned back to his original self, a result of the government being pressured by political groups inferring that what the government has done to Alex is just as bad, if not worse than any crimes Alex committed in the past. All of the individuals shown endorsing the brainwashing earlier in the film, are now shaking hands and taking pictures with the reformed Alex. The movie ends with a closeup of our antihero dreaming of sex and violence, with him claiming "I was cured all right."The acting, direction, sets, and cinematography are all superb. Look for David Prowse as Patrick Magee's bodyguard. He is the actor that played Darth Vader. The film's violence and sex is very graphic but not as disturbing as the ramifications of the experiments performed on Alex. Kubrick once again raises many interesting questions and focuses on the theme of dehumanization, a subject he explores in many films, most notably Full Metal Jacket and Paths of Glory. The central and most intriguing of the questions examined is "what makes us human?" If someone, in this case a violent criminal, has their free will taken away, is he still human? Being unable to commit a violent act subsequently leaves the criminal (victim of brainwashing) powerless to protect himself from others. The brainwashed criminal has been "cured" of violent behavior, but at what cost? To quote the author Anthony Burgess, "A human being is endowed with free will. He can use this to choose between good and evil. If he can only perform good or only perform evil, then he is a clockwork orange-meaning that he has the appearance of an organism lovely with colour and juice but is in fact only a clockwork toy to be wound up by God or the Devil or (since this increasingly replacing both) the Almighty State." A Clockwork Orange is a remarkable lasting film and should be seen by everyone interested in film. Viddy well O my brothers, viddy well! It is available on VHS and DVD.