Clockwork Orange (A)

Genre: psychological drama
Director: Stanley Kubrick
Release: 1971
Studio: Warner Bros. Pictures, Kinney Company, Polaris Productions, Hawks Films Limited – Warner Bros. Pictures International
Song lyrics: Mick Jagger and Keith Richards (1968)
Rating: R
MBiS score: 9.1/10


Sympathy For The Devil


Those young men sipping drinks at the Korova Milkbar are no ordinary patrons. They call themselves the Droogs – a raucous gang of hooligans led by one Alex DeLarge (Malcolm McDowell) – and they don’t intend to loaf about all evening. When good and ready, they’ll surely prowl the city’s dark corners looking for kicks and, by Jove, there will be kicks to be had! With Warren Clarke (Dim the Droog), James Marcus (Georgie the Droog), Michael Tarn (Pete the Droog), Patrick Magee (Mr. Alexander), Michael Bates (Barnes), John Clive (Stage Actor), Adrienne Corri (Mrs. Alexander), Carl Duering (Brodsky), Paul Farrell (Tramp) and Clive Francis (Joe). Production team: Bill Butler (editor), Russell Hagg and Peter Sheilds (art directors), John Barry (production designer), Ron Beck (wardrobe supervisor), Milena Canonero (costume designer) and Walter (Wendy) Carlos (music, interpreting compositions by Beethoven, Rossini, Elgar and others).

When the Beatles and the Rolling Stones reached superstardom in the mid-60s, a few years before A CLOCKWORK ORANGE was released, their songs and musical directions divided young fans and adults alike. If you loved pop rock transcendence and beautiful harmonies, the Beatles were your band and your folks didn’t complain much. If raw blues rock, sexual suggestiveness and a whiff of danger were your bag, you idolized the Stones but mom and pop cringed. One could argue that the same dichotomy holds true for movie masterpieces. Most are rooted in noble symbolism or portray man’s primary struggles on Earth but Stanley Kubrick’s classic about Alex and his ruffians stands out like a black sheep among the flock, a deleterious work conceived by rough-and-tumble souls. In spirit, it owes little to the Beatles but shares plenty with SYMPATHY FOR THE DEVIL, the Stones’ scary hit from 1968.

Please allow me to introduce myself
I'm a man of wealth and taste

Early on, the level of violence in A CLOCKWORK ORANGE may shock you as the Droogs, who give little credence to social conventions, let their boots, fists and knives do the talking for them. If you consider these scenes repulsive or sadistic – as they obviously are – keep in mind that the mayhem lasts only fifteen minutes or so and is tempered with a peculiar brand of sick and witty humour. Hang on to your bowlers, mates!

But what's puzzling you
Is the nature of my game

Once this intemperate introduction has passed, Kubrick’s film slows down to focus on Alex, his private life and delinquency problems. In this context, our devilish dandy appears less like a monster and more like a prototypical anti-hero. The lad shows intellectual curiosity, a love for classical music and mammoth mojo (!).

Killed the Czar and his ministers
Anastasia screamed in vain

After another flurry of gratuitous violence, the movie changes gears with Alex becoming the hero – quite literally – of a contemporary fable alternately hilarious and creepy. From there, the film’s story-line mixes nightmarish terror, devastating humour, a hard satirical bent on politics and society (a recurrent theme in Kubrick’s oeuvre) and joyful irreverence towards religion and authority. Deep down, its Orwellian message about crime and punishment, political expediency, science and ethical issues will appear bracingly serious and its verdict, surprisingly moral. That’s as far as I’ll go for now but, if you’re anything like me, you will come to accept young Alex… and even root for the roguish bugger!

Just call me Lucifer
'Cause I'm in need of some restraint

A CLOCKWORK ORANGE is certainly not Satan’s handiwork but it remains diabolically clever – pun intended, of course. Taking their cue from an Anthony Burgess novel, Kubrick and his magnificent team fashioned not just a dirty allegory but a blowout for the senses. Jazzed-up dialogues (the Droogs speak their own crazy lingo), bizarre costumes, mind-blowing sets leaning on the ultra-modern and decked out in psychedelic colours (fuchsia and lime green!) and a souped-up musical score fusing synthesizers and old-world compositions collectively establish a surreal mood that prefigures some of EYES WIDE SHUT’s stranger moments. Between you and me, I have long thought that Stanley Kubrick was an Englishman and this film reinforces the illusion. Moreover, his in-your-face demonstrations of erotica and sexual mischief are remarkably adroit – most other filmmakers would look juvenile if they tried this kind of stuff but he manages to pull it off with unrepentant glee. Scenes that would be innocuous or drab in other movies look funny and even grotesque in Kubrick's offbeat vision of the world.

So if you meet me
Have some courtesy
Have some sympathy, have some taste

Acting-wise, A CLOCKWORK ORANGE is mainly Malcolm McDowell’s show and he delivers a masterful performance in an unglamorous role. His mellifluous voice and very British accent are immediately captivating while his playing runs the gamut of emotions, from evil playfulness to unforced civility. A competent cast affords him noteworthy support in a variety of roles, some good, some nasty indeed.

Use all your well-learned politesse
Or I'll lay your soul to waste, mmm yeah

I’ll sum up with an easy riddle – and feel free to interrupt me if you know the answer (!). What do you get when you mix Kubrick and Burgess, genius and madness, an electrifying story and a form of intellectual perversion rarely seen in modern culture? A very subversive movie and, better yet, an outrageous piece of cinema that shames many of today’s so-called ‘masterpieces’. Speak of the devil!


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