Spotlight November 2012 -A ClockWork Orange

Released originally in 1971, A Clockwork Orange was deemed to be to violent for it's time and was banned in Britain due to it's portrayal of physical violence and rape which was so extreme for it's time.

Alex and his friends going out to cause chaos on the streets 

The film itself to me was refreshing, after only watching films that are deemed mainstream and sometimes high concept, to actually sit down and watch something that is still relevant today was brilliant.
The film itself follows the main protagonist Alex and his journey through his adolescent years being a thug in all respects. Beating up people brutally and raping women for fun and ending up murdering a women in her home and sent to prison for his actions for 14 years (which is a light sentence for murderers in modern day Britain) to then be subjected to a painful pioneering  experiment to change his ways there was no surprise that this would make him vulnerable and easy to manipulate and harm by his victims and his so called friends.

The Book 

As with most of Stanley Kubrick films from this period it is a slightly odd film to sit down and watch, with it's strange costumes, wired sets and scenery as well as editing styles that do throw you off balance and to make you slightly uncomfortable throughout the film.
The film is an adaptation of a book , written by the author Anthony Burgess who's shocking prediction of modern day Britain and it's society which is rife with youth crime and violence and intolerance for the law. It was no surprise that this topic was going to be explored in the medium of film.

Stanley Kubrick

Kubrick himself is a master of the wired and slightly untouchable narrative that Hollywood would not want to make, but when the film was released earning 4 Oscar Nominations in the process it seemed Hollywood and the film critics were starting to embrace films that were outside of the Box and futuristic and alarming in Narrative. Kubrick himself had been living in Britain for a while, after becoming disinterested and disenchanted with Hollywood.
The move would inspire him further for him to first release the film Lolita in 1962 which wasn't offensive and did well in the UK.
The question was why did A Clockwork Orange offend so many people? Including the British Government?

Singing 'Singing In the Rain'
Whilst beating someone up? 

Like I mentioned before some of the scenes in the film are of a violent and extreme sexual nature, the thing with the way that Kubrick actually put it onto film was just to put it out there. The controversy surrounding the film possibly elevated it's profile in other countries and may have got it those important nominations at the Oscars. The film itself is rather odd, the whole narrative is told from Alex's point of view with him Narrating throughout. The use of Music especially Beethoven is interesting, as although the scenes you are seeing on screen are violent and awful the music is a massive contrast with it being somewhat helping the narrative along and seeming to intensify the images on screen.

As for Alex, you go through several emotions, at first you don't like him in fact he's someone who you don't understand. He is Misunderstood and it's only when things start to go wrong that you start to feel sympathy towards him as a character. It's almost like the audience have seen that this boy isn't evil or a bad character that can't be reformed. He is just a misunderstood and misguided youth in some ways, which most of the teenage population around the world now and his punishment was a little bit to much.

Alex being exposed to aversion therapy
which have some severe consequences.

But from what I took from the film after a while was that Alex was in a world that was overprotective and afraid of taking risks and seeking extreme methods of correction to solve simple problems.
He has been in prison for two years when word spreads that there is a new cure that will stop subjects from committing any form of crime.









The problem with that is that it is conditioning to be averse to extreme forms of violence and from committing them by making the subject feel sick and fear that in the end will bring on feelings of suicide. Which have horrid effects when released back into society, although corrected Alex is now vulnerable with no way to defend himself from the people who he inflicted pain to. Alex is now has no moral choice, and with this people can take advantage. As seen from the picture below of Alex licking someones shoe.

Unable to defend yourself and subjected to licking someones shoe. 

Overall I enjoyed the film, I thought when I first sat down to watch this I wouldn't like the film and would turn it off, I actually enjoyed it!