Top 100: A Clockwork Orange (Stanley Kubrick, 1971)
"gorgeous gorgeosity made flesh"
Highly controversial, and unavailable in the UK for years after its initial release, Stanley Kubrick's adaptation of the rather slender novel by Anthony Burgess is a masterpiece. And thankfully, it's now freely available on Blu-Ray, Yippee!
A Clockwork Orange is only merely great upon first viewing, and undoubtedly gets much better with time, which is a true sign of high quality. Now that I think about it, all of Stanley Kubrick films demand multiple viewings. His attention to detail has been well-documented, and the fact that he didn't make many movies in his lifetime is testament to his methods.
The story concerns Alex (Malcolm McDowell) & his 'droogs', who are a small gang of teenage delinquents, who have a penchant for sex & violence. After Alex is finally sent to prison, he attempts to be 'made good' or rather re-conditioned by the government, using the Ludovico Technique. It's a strong morality tale, as well as being a dark satire on a totalitarian ideal. The telling of this story is an audio-visual treat. It's also a very faithful adaptation, and has a tremendous cast, most notably a rather fetching McDowell in his prime, and a terrific turn by Aubrey Morris as Deltoid, yes? I must also mention the excellent music by Moog maestro Wendy Carlos. Super.
In Britain, there were a spate of copycat crimes, with the scoundrels dressed the same way as they characters in the movie. The press had a field day, and the film was eventually withdrawn by Kubrick himself... it was later understood that there were threats to his family, which is what led to the film's withdrawal. Unfortunately, it took Kubrick's death in 1999 to finally get the film re-released.
The book did have a final chapter, chapter 21, where Alex realises the error of his way, and vows to transform his life for the better. This chapter didn't make it in the film, because it was never published in the initial American versions of the book. I could take either ending, to be honest, and I do think that the film's ending has a small amount of ambiguity to it. Just a tad, mind!
