A quick review of A Clockwork Orange

A quick review of 'A Clockwork Orange'

Director Stanley Kubrick's 1971 British film A Clockwork Orange is based on Anthony Burgess's 1962 novel of the same name. Stars Malcolm McDowell and Patrick Magee spearhead the film’s all British cast in a story set in a futuristic dystopia overrun by street gangs. 


Alex DeLarge (Malcolm McDowell) is the id of the film and leader of a quartet of hooligans--or, as he refers to them, droogs--who spend their days in search of victims to rob, rape, and beat up. When they are not terrorizing society or brawling with other gangs, they can be found sipping drug-laced milk from the tit-like taps at the Korova milk bar. Alex's leadership is unquestioned by everybody except Dim who fails--even with the assistance of Georgie and Pete--in an attempt to unseat Alex as the gang’s leader. Later, though, Dim, Pete, and Georgie frame Alex for murder. Desperate to get out of prison, Alex agrees to participate in an aversion therapy experiment that takes away his violent tendencies by short-circuiting his ability to defend himself. He is then set free and rejoins society where those he once terrorized, including Dim, are waiting.


A Clockwork Orange is Stanley Kubrick's follow up to his 1968 film 2001: A Space Odyssey and, like that film, A Clockwork Orange speculates on where we may be heading in the not so distant future. Among the film's themes are free will and human nature. Other themes in the film are violence, sex, and art and how each of these are interpreted according to class.


A Clockwork Orange only took Kubrick 8 months to shoot. The film's star Malcolm McDowell said that if Kubrick wasn't a director he could have been a Chief of Staff with the US Armed Forces. I have the film on DVD which is full-screen but I’ve read that the new versions are letterboxed. Don’t let the age of this film scare you out of making the best 5 or 10 dollar investment you’ll ever make.