DVD Review: A Clockwork Orange
Published June 02, 2006
Part of what made A Clockwork Orange so controversial upon its initial release[2], is that switch wherein Alex goes from hated to pitied. Kubrick presents us with a protagonist and narrator who is essentially an uber-villain — a gang leader who picks fights with rival gangs, beats up a homeless man, orchestrates a gang rape, and has a three-way with two teenage girls. There is no code of ethics by which he could be considered a good person. But, he is a clever and charming young man who serenades his rape victims with "Singin' in the Rain" and has a strange, unexplained fascination with Beethoven. It's difficult to reconcile that this likable young man could be capable of such atrocities, which is partly what Kubrick's going for here. Take Alex out of his odd white outfit and into some normal clothes and he looks no different than anyone else his age. Only at night he lets his inner demons run wild, where the rest of society has decided to suppress them. But the solution of just taking the demons away isn't a solution at all, because the demons are vital to who we are. Think of it as a ying and yang approach to the soul of man. Without that battle between good and evil we have nothing but an empty, boring wasteland. And that's not a life worth living.[3]
A Clockwork Orange, like so many of Stanley Kubrick's films, is an acquired taste. It is a bold, daring piece of cinema that aims to provoke a reaction in the belief that it is better to be found spectacularly bad than dull. Thankfully, it is neither. Kubrick paints in broad, provocative strokes, muting nothing in the frame. He employs a broad range of colors and flourishes that give the film a vibrant and raw feel, as if you're watching the characters and images explode off the screen. Alex mentions during one of his sessions that "the colors of the real world only seem really real when you viddy them on the screen," so Kubrick does his best to make them seem really real, from Mum's hair to the red outfit of the woman being raped to the flashing lights of the record store. Couple that with the wide-angle lenses Kubrick is fond of, the slang bordering on gibberish[4], the numerous phallic symbols, and the occasional intentional continuity error, and the entire film is a bit disorienting and unnerving. It's designed to put you slightly on edge.
- DVD Review: A Clockwork Orange
- Published: June 02, 2006
- Type: Review
- Section: Video
- Filed Under: Review, Video: Art House, Video: Classics, Video: Comedy, Video: Drama, Video: Horror
- Part of a feature: 100 Great Films
- Writer: Lucas McNelly
- Lucas McNelly's BC Writer page
- Lucas McNelly's personal site
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Nadsat also has traces of the Malayan language in it, as Burgess was very familiar with the language. He'd spent time in Malaysia whilst in the army, I believe.
A book - and film - that will continue to be as frightening as it has been influential.
Lucas: You write really excellent reviews and when I just went to your blog I saw you were only 27.
The fact I thought you were older is meant as a compliment in that you seem wiser than your years.
But it also explains why, for example, you saw the remake of Psycho before the original.
What list of 100 films are you using? The one from AFI? If you haven't read I'd recommend AFI's 100 Essential Movies book (or is it 100 influential movies). Either way I went through it last year and watched each movie on the list I could get my hands on (about 90 of the 100) and then compared my thoughts to those of the reviewer included.
I think it was in there that I read something to the effect of the Singing in the Rain bit being a late addition to the film which is amazing considering its one of the most memorable.
This movie has the distinction of being the only one which I think is so good that I hesitate to recommend it to some who I think would find the movie - especially the rape scenes - too disturbing.
I had not heard before that the movie was not released in Britain until after his death. Was it ever shown then?
As for Kubrick being an acquired taste I definitely agree with that.
Scott,
Thanks for your kind words. The list I'm using is the Time 100 Great Films list, but it's actually a hybrid of that and a few more criteria (a critic's poll, certain high metacritic scores, and They Shoot Pictures, Don't They?'s top 100)
the story i've heard about the Singin' in the Rain inclusion is that it was the only song McDowell could remember the words to. it ended up being a pretty brilliant bit of luck, as anyone who saw Clockwork before Singin' can attest to being a bit uneasy when they saw the musical.
as far as I know, this was shown in Britain after Kubrick's death.
Ah, well, then I'd suggest this book, because it's also a pretty good list.
I just asked for a review copy of a new book that's supposed to be even more comprehensive.
excellent Review....thaks for bringing this Masterpiece up!
/golfclap
one of the things i have always found fascinating about the film, not counting Malcolm's performance, was the whole "full Circle" thing that happens...
how everything that happened before Alex going to jail is repeated form the other side of a funhouse mirror...
your mileage may vary
Excelsior?
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Talk about guilty pleasures. I'm troubled by the way this movie appeals to me.
I recommend the book, too - very important to get the updated edition with the new ending that Burgess wanted but the original publishers didn't.
The slang is called nadsat, by the way.