A Clockwork Orange (1971)

User Rating:

8.5/10   

Director:

Stanley Kubrick

Writers:

Stanley Kubrick (screenplay)
Anthony Burgess (novel)

Release Date:

2 February 1972 (USA)

Genre:

Crime | Drama | Thriller

Tagline:

Being the adventures of a young man ... who couldn't resist pretty girls ... or a bit of the old ultra-violence ... went to jail, was re-conditioned ... and came out a different young man ... or was he ?

Plot:

In future Britain, charismatic delinquent Alex DeLarge is jailed and later volunteers for an experimental aversion therapy developed by the government in an effort to solve society's crime problem... but not all goes to plan.

Plot Keywords:

Gang | Aversion Therapy | Violence | Britain | Prison

Awards:

Nominated for 4 Oscars. Another 5 wins & 12 nominations

Cast

Malcolm McDowell	...	Alex
Patrick Magee	...	Mr Alexander
Michael Bates	...	Chief Guard
Warren Clarke	...	Dim
John Clive	...	Stage Actor
Adrienne Corri	...	Mrs. Alexander
Carl Duering	...	Dr. Brodsky
Paul Farrell	...	Tramp
Clive Francis	...	Lodger
Michael Gover	...	Prison Governor
Miriam Karlin	...	Catlady
James Marcus	...	Georgie
Aubrey Morris	...	Deltoid
Godfrey Quigley	...	Prison Chaplain
Sheila Raynor	...	Mum

Also Known As:

Stanley Kubrick's A Clockwork Orange (USA) (poster title)

Runtime:

136 min

Country:

UK | USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White | Color (Warnercolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital (re-issue) | Mono

Certification:

Iceland:16 | Ireland:18 (re-rating) (2000) | Ireland:(Banned) (1971-2000) | South Korea:18 (2004) | South Korea:18 (2005) (DVD rating) | Italy:VM18 (DVD rating) | Canada:18A (Ontario) (re-rating) (2008) | Canada:R (Ontario) (original rating) | Canada:R (Manitoba/Nova Scotia) | Brazil:16 | USA:R (cut version) (1973) | USA:X | UK:(Banned) (withdrawn by director) (1973-1999) | South Africa:18 (Certificate G/1999/0748 DVD) | Argentina:X (original rating) | Argentina:18 (re-rating) | Australia:R | Canada:16+ (Quebec) | Canada:R (Alberta) (re-rating) (1999) | Chile:18 | Finland:K-15 (re-rating) | Finland:K-18 (original rating) | France:-16 (re-rating) | France:-18 (original rating) | Hong Kong:III | Israel:18 (video rating) | Israel:X (original rating) | Italy:VM14 (re-release) | Italy:VM18 (original rating) | Japan:R-15 | Malaysia:(Banned) | Mexico:D | Netherlands:18 | New Zealand:R18 | Norway:18 | Singapore:(Banned) | South Korea:(Banned) | Spain:(Banned) (original rating) | Spain:18 (re-rating) (1975) | Sweden:15 | UK:18 (re-rating) (1999) | UK:X (original rating) | West Germany:16 | Portugal:M/16

Filming Locations:

Albert Bridge, Battersea, London, England, UK

Company:

Warner Bros. Pictures

Trivia:

Filming the rape scene was so difficult for the actress originally cast in the role. She quit and the part was recast to Adrienne Corri, who was said to have been furious with Stanley Kubrick for the scores of takes he required for this infamous scene, feeling it should have been done swiftly.

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: The wine Alex drinks appears far too light in color to be a 10 year old Médoc. Kubrick did use the actual wine described by Alex (specifically a 1960 Chateau Beau Site Haut Vignoble). But after each take water was added, ostensibly to keep the wine level consistent without intoxicating Malcolm McDowell. By the time Kubrick got what he wanted the wine was visibly watered down.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Alex: There was me, that is Alex, and my three droogs, that is Pete, Georgie, and Dim, and we sat in the Korova Milkbar trying to make up our rassoodocks what to do with the evening. The Korova milkbar sold milk-plus, milk plus vellocet or synthemesc or drencrom, which is what we were drinking. This would sharpen you up and make you ready for a bit of the old ultra-violence.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Dogma (1999)

Soundtrack:

The Thieving Magpie Overture

Great Piece of Art

I would say that the movie is really a gem of an art piece. The use of excellent imagery coupled with pretty out-of-the-place background score tells us about the uniqueness of this movie. Stanley Kubrick has really applied a lot of thought into this.

The director wants the audience to feel something as bad not because he is showing it as bad but because it really is bad. The background music accompanying the ultra violent scenes is comical, and not dramatic or anything else that is commonly associated with such scenes. This gives the viewer an opportunity to feel the bitterness not because the music hints so but because he himself feels so. Viewer's emotions should arise irrespective of what the director is trying to show, and this is one of the greatest successes of the movie.

Another glorifying feature is the central idea of the movie. If a human is striped of the choice to choose from good and evil, he no longer remains a human, he becomes a clockwork. When Alex is brain-washed and "programmed" to choose only good, he wasn't accepted by the society and this shows the irony in the objectives of the British Government. The word Orange from the title presumably comes from the word "Ourange" that loosely means man. And hence the title is so appropriate to the movie.

The artificiality in dialogues and sets give the movie a unique feature and enhance the grip on it. This also means that the viewer has to get more involved. This is definitely one of the best technically shot movies, another masterpiece of Kubrick like the Space Oddessey.

For the uninitiated, set in near future Britain, the movie shows Malcom MacDowell as the head of a group of youngsters involved in sexual violence. Turn of the events leave the protagonist in the hands of the police. Worried by the growing number of prisoners the British Government devises a method of "programming" them so that they always choose the good. Alex is chosen as one of those on which the new system is to be tested. The rest unfolds as a saga of the very human characteristic.

Lastly, I would like to say that you may be compelled to leave the movie in between, but if you are watching it for art and cinematic experience, I recommend you to sit through.