A Clockwork Orange

1971 satirical dystopian black comedy

Rating: 20/20

Plot: A hilarious musical in which Alex DeLarge and his thuggish pals don codpieces and spend their nights sipping milk and engaging in various ultraviolent acts--beating up inebriated bums, throwing down against rival gangs, stealing cars, rape. After his three droogs attempt a rather half-assed and unsuccessful coup, the lads make their way to what they believe is an easy target, a health camp operator who is alone and apparently rich. Alex is caught and found guilty of the lady's murder. While in jail, he feigns interest in religion and hears of a new "method" that supposedly heals the criminal mind. He undergoes the harsh treatment and is once again released into society.

A "turning point" movie for me when I saw this in high school. Watching A Clockwork Orange made me realize that film not only existed to entertain the (m)asses, but that it could also be artistic. For better or worse, this one turned me to a fan of the sort of adventurous, dangerous, audacious, and chaotic cinema that I love today. This is a wildy creative adventure, and the world Kubrick created could probably not have been created by anybody else. There's really not another movie that matches Kubrick's artistic vision. Is there? And Malcolm McDowell deserved at least a best actor nomination. I can't imagine anybody else playing Alex, and there's a demanding physicality to the role (in fact, he was injured twice and nearly drowned during one scene) that was apparently underappreciated. The actors with smaller roles, from the bum in the opening scene to the the parole officer to the writer, are also terrifically hammy. A Clockwork Orange is also great because of the way the visuals and music compliment each other so perfectly. I guess Wendy Carlos (actually he/she was Walter Carlos when the music was composed) and his mooginess was also overlooked by the Academy. There's a unique perspective/point of view in this one, too, one that forces the viewer to side with a sadistic murderer/rapist. You've got to love a movie that does that! But a lot of Kubrick's trickery let's you see the story alternately as disturbing, humorous, terrifying, and ludicrous. It's also got phallic symbols galore! If you asked me seventeen years ago about my favorite movie, I would have picked this one for sure. That might not be true now, but it'll always be up there near the top. So many memorable moments!

My favorite scene changes every time I see this movie; this time, it was when Alex notices the phallic sculpture, latter his weapon, in a victim's house. His expression, around a comical rubber nose (another phallic symbol), is great! What's your favorite scene?