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Empire Magazine (2008) Greatest Movies List - #37: A Clockwork Orange

 


If there is a university course that explores the possible correlation between movies and real-life crimes, Stanley Kubrick’s A Clockwork Orange (1971) is probably on the curriculum. Despite the fact the movie never endorses the horrible crimes perpetrated by the protagonist, it inspired copycat crimes to the point Kubrick supported the decision to pull the movie from theaters. The question of if this should be done every time a criminal is inspired by a movie could be debated for hours. As for the movie itself, I think it has a lot of artistic merit, great performances, and poses very thought-provoking questions. I just wish those questions had been better explored by the time the movie ends.

I first became aware of A Clockwork Orange in the early 2000s when Stanley Kubrick movies were airing on a movie channel. Given the explicit content of most of Kubrick’s movies, they were airing slightly after most bedtime hours. However, some kids at my school clearly did not care because on at least one occasion I heard people talking about “that sequence” in Eyes Wide Shut. I usually tried to go to bed early so I missed on that, but in recent years I did buy a three-pack Blu-Ray set that includes The Shining, 2001: A Space Odyssey, and A Clockwork Orange. One obvious thought after seeing it for the first time: this is not a movie you want to watch surrounded by family.

The story is set in a dystopian version of England where things are not going too well. There is lots of poverty, crime, and a government willing to bend quite a few ethical rules in order curb the crime. That might unfortunately sound familiar to some people, but the criminals in this version of England are quite unfamiliar and eccentric. The young gang led by Alex (Malcolm McDowell, in a career-defining role) roam the streets dressed in all-white suits, black boots, bowler hats, and suspenders. They hang around in a milk bar, and speak in their own language, referring to each other as “droogs”. They would be funny if it wasn’t for the fact their nightly activities include beating up the homeless, running over pedestrians, murder, and rape.

Alex is quite the vicious character, singing and dancing as he inflects pain on others (perhaps an inspiration for Heath Ledger’s Joker). He is even sadistic to his own gang members, hitting one in the groin with his cane and pushing the rest into a river during a beautifully choreographed scene. It is therefore not surprising that they eventually betray him to the police. Once behind bars Alex tries to be a model prisoner, claiming he was falsely accused, but is not fooling anyone. In fact, a sadist is just what the government is looking for to test a new procedure to eradicate bad behaviour. Since the success of the procedure means a get-out-of-jail-free-card, Alex is more than happy to sign up.

It’s a decision he soon regrets since the procedure is invasive to say the least. One of cinema’s most iconic image is that of Alex strapped to a chair, his eyelids pulled open by metal hooks, as he stares at a movie screen. The doctors are playing images of violence and rape, which normally would make Alex smile. Unfortunately the doctors have pumped his system full of drugs so that he feels extremely nauseous during the screening. It is an obvious Pavlovian response: because he has been conditioned to feel sick when watching images of violence, he will feel sick every time he tries to commit violence.

The scientist working on the project are all happy they have seemingly “cured” Alex, and the politicians are just as happy they will lower crime by implementing this procedure. The problem is, as one lone doctor points out, they have not removed Alex’s taste for violence. All they have done is removed his physical ability to do so. This is the equivalent of finding a rabid dog and removing its teeth.

With no way of defending himself, Alex now for the first time finds himself at the mercy of the world after he is released from prison. Thrown in the streets by his parents, his former victims find him and exact revenge. What he has done to them, they now do to him. It is painful to watch, but as viewers are we to feel pity for this rapist and murderer? Would society be better if all criminals were to go through the same treatment? Who gets to decide what criminals need this treatment, and how far could it go?

My biggest disappointment with the movie is that we never see Alex or anyone else ponder these big questions. He gets pleasure from inflecting violence and violence is inflected upon him. Has that caused to rethink his life choices? Given the chance, would he try to be a good person and see what happens? I wish the movie would have gone further in examining the meaning of all these events and had a punchier ending.

Aesthetically speaking, A Clockwork Orange is a beautiful even when the actions onscreen are absolutely despicable. Malcolm McDowell portrays one of cinema’s greatest villains, a well-kept young man who loves both the music of Beethoven and the act of murder. The result is a movie that is very memorable, if not always enjoyable.  

A Clockwork Orange | Masterpiece Trailer | Warner Bros. Entertainment - YouTube

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