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
Madge Ryan	...	Dr. Branom
John Savident	...	Conspirator
Anthony Sharp	...	Minister
Philip Stone	...	Dad
Pauline Taylor	...	Psychiatrist
Margaret Tyzack	...	Conspirator
Steven Berkoff	...	Det. Const. Tom
Lindsay Campbell	...	Police Inspector
Michael Tarn	...	Pete
David Prowse	...	Julian (Frank Alexander's bodyguard)
Barrie Cookson
Jan Adair	...	Handmaiden in Bible Fantasy
Gaye Brown	...	Sophisto (in the Korova Milkbar)
Peter Burton
John J. Carney	...	Detective sergeant
Vivienne Chandler	...	Handmaiden in Bible Fantasy
Richard Connaught	...	Billy Boy (gang leader)
Prudence Drage	...	Handmaiden in Bible fantasy
Carol Drinkwater	...	Nurse Feeley
Lee Fox	...	Desk Sergeant
Cheryl Grunwald	...	Rape Victim in Film
Gillian Hills	...	Sonietta
Craig Hunter	...	Doctor
Shirley Jaffe	...	Victim of Billy Boy's gang
Virginia Wetherell	...	Stage Actress
Neil Wilson	...	Prison Check-in Officer
Katya Wyeth	...	Girl in Ascot Fantasy
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Robert Bruce	...	Milkbar Bouncer (uncredited)
Norman Gay	...	BBC Producer (uncredited)
Katharina Kubrick	...	Girl passing Alex in record store (uncredited)
Pat Roach	...	Milkbar Bouncer (uncredited)
Barbara Scott	...	Marty (uncredited)

Directed by
Stanley Kubrick

Writing credits
Stanley Kubrick		(screenplay)
Anthony Burgess		(novel)

Produced by
Stanley Kubrick	....	producer
Si Litvinoff	....	executive producer
Max L. Raab	....	executive producer
Bernard Williams	....	associate producer

Cinematography by
John Alcott		(lighting cameraman)

Film Editing by
Bill Butler

Casting by
James Liggat		(as Jimmy Liggat)

Production Design by
John Barry

Art Direction by
Russell Hagg
Peter Sheilds

Costume Design by
Milena Canonero

Makeup Department
Olga Angelinetta	....	hair stylist
Barbara Daly	....	makeup artist
Leonard	....	hair and coloring consultant (as Leonard of London)
George Partleton	....	makeup artist
Freddie Williamson	....	makeup artist (as Fred Williamson)
Jim Gillespie	....	makeup artist (uncredited)

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Derek Cracknell	....	assistant director
Dusty Symonds	....	assistant director
Raymond Becket	....	third assistant director (uncredited)

Art Department
Frank Bruton	....	prop master
Peter Hancock	....	prop man
Tommy Ibbetson	....	prop man
Christiane Kubrick	....	paintings
Christiane Kubrick	....	sculptor
Cornelius Makkink	....	paintings
Cornelius Makkink	....	sculptor
Herman Makkink	....	paintings
Herman Makkink	....	sculptor
Liz Moore	....	paintings
Liz Moore	....	sculptor
John Oliver	....	prop man
Bill Welch	....	construction manager

Sound Department
Brian Blamey	....	sound editor
Peter Glossop	....	boom operator
Eddie Haben	....	dubbing mixer
John Jordan	....	sound recordist
Bill Rowe	....	dubbing mixer

Visual Effects by
Sandy DellaMarie	....	digital production coordinator: Pacific Title & Art Studio: re-release
Mark Freund	....	visual effects supervisor: Pacific Title & Art Studio: re-release
George Gervan	....	digital paint artist: Pacific itle & Art Studio: re-release
Richard Gervan	....	digital paint artist: Pacific Title & Art Studio: re-release
Martin Hall	....	digital paint artist: Pacific Title & Art Studio: re-release
Maureen Healy	....	digital paint artist: Pacific Title & Art Studio: re-release
Heather Hoyland	....	lead digital compositor: Pacific Title & Art Studio: re-release
Greg Kimble	....	digital compositor: Pacific Title & Art Studio: re-release
Jeff Wells	....	digital compositor: Pacific Title & Art Studio: re-release
Chris Crowell	....	digital compositor (restored version) (uncredited)

Stunts
Eddie Frewin	....	stunt driver (uncredited)
Roy Scammell	....	stunt arranger (uncredited)

Camera and Electrical Department
Lou Bogue	....	electrician (as Louis Bogue)
Don Budge	....	grip
Tony Cridlin	....	grip
Ernest Day	....	camera operator (as Ernie Day)
Ron Drinkwater	....	focus puller
Laurie Frost	....	assistant camera
Derek Gattrell	....	electrician (as Derek Gatrell)
David Lenham	....	assistant camera
Mike Molloy	....	camera operator
Frank Wardale	....	supervising electrician
Ken Worringham	....	camera operator (uncredited)

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Ron Beck	....	wardrobe supervisor

Editorial Department
David Beesley	....	assistant editor
Peter Burgess	....	assistant editor
Gary Shepherd	....	assistant editor

Music Department
Wendy Carlos	....	composer: electronic music (as Walter Carlos)

Other crew
Len Barnard	....	production accountant
Terence A. Clegg	....	location manager (as Terence Clegg)
Andros Epaminondas	....	production assistant
Jan Harlan	....	assistant to producer
Kay Johnson	....	secretary to director
Mike Kaplan	....	promotion coordinator
Jonathan Marshall	....	technical advisor (as Jon Marshall)
Arthur Morgan	....	location liaison
Loretta Ordewer	....	production secretary
June Randall	....	continuity
Margaret Adams	....	production assistant (uncredited)
Pablo Ferro	....	title designer (uncredited)
Anthony Frewin	....	assistant: Stanley Kubrick (uncredited)
Dick Haydon	....	stand-in: male (uncredited)

Production Companies

• Warner Bros. Pictures (presents)
• Hawk Films

Distributors

• Warner Bros. Pictures (1971) (USA) (theatrical)
• Columbia-Warner Distributors (1972) (UK) (theatrical)
• Warner Bros. (1972) (France) (theatrical)
• Warner Bros. Finland (1972) (Finland) (theatrical)
• Warner Bros. (1973) (Italy) (theatrical)
• Asociácia slovenských filmových klubov (ASFK) (2007) (Slovakia) (theatrical)
• Warner Bros. (2007) (Czech Republic) (theatrical)
• Argentina Video Home (19??) (Argentina) (VHS)
• Argentina Video Home (2002) (Argentina) (DVD)
• Argentina Video Home (2002) (Argentina) (VHS) (re-release)
• Argentina Video Home (2009) (Argentina) (DVD) (Blu-ray)
• Warner Bros. (2002) (Argentina) (all media) (re-release)
• Warner Home Video (1992) (Canada) (VHS)
• Warner Home Video (2001) (Netherlands) (DVD) (VHS)
• Warner Home Video (2007) (Netherlands) (DVD) (Blu-Ray Disc)
• Warner Home Video (1991) (USA) (video) (laserdisc)
• Warner Home Video (1999) (USA) (DVD)
• Warner Home Video (1999) (USA) (VHS)
• Warner Home Video (2001) (USA) (DVD)
• Warner Home Video (2001) (USA) (VHS)
• Warner Home Vídeo (????) (Brazil) (DVD)
• Warner Home Vídeo (????) (Brazil) (VHS)

Other Companies

• Braun  special acknowledgment
• Dolby Laboratories  special acknowledgment

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:

Contrary to popular claims, this was never banned in the UK. It originally received an "X" rating in 1971 and was withdrawn from distribution in 1973 by Stanley Kubrick himself. One of Kubrick's reasons for withdrawing the movie in the UK was that, according to his wife Christiane Kubrick, he and his family received several death threats because of the film. In the 1980s and 1990s, British fans who wanted to see this movie would have to order it from video stores in other countries, usually France. In 1993 London's popular Scala Film Club showed this movie without permission. At Kubrick's insistence, Warner Brothers sued and won, causing the Scala to close in near bankruptcy. In 2000, the year after Kubrick's death, the film was released again throughout Great Britain and received an "18" rating.

Goofs:

Audio/visual unsynchronized: When the rampaging Alex is performing "Singing In The Rain," leaning over Frank, his mouth is not moving.

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:

Spoofed in Conker's Bad Fur Day (2001) (VG)

Soundtrack:

Pomp and Circumstance March No.I

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.