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A Clockwork Orange (1971)

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1018 comments in total

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259 out of 330 people found the following comment useful :-
One of those films you have to watch multiple times, 28 avril 2002

Author: Agent10 de Tucson, AZ

It's hard to judge a film such as this. Its cold and hard, yet can be exhilarating and sarcastic. It can be average, yet it can be visionary. Exploitive? Satirical? Too many questions to consider when one watches this film.

Even after 34 years, this film still speaks volumes about our current culture, which many ideals are ringing true today. The younger generations are out of control due to lack of parental control, junk culture is becoming commonplace, violence is desensitizing the masses, and we all seem to be enjoying the ride on the way down. It's very difficult to find movies which can make such startling commentary, yet hold on to such accusations for an extended period of time. Nowadays, films are focused-grouped to death, conformity is more powerful than artistry, and money is far more important than quality. Kubrick took a huge leap with this film, challenging society to take a hard look at itself. Unfortunately, society wasn't ready for this film, which is why it is revered now more than ever.

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288 out of 436 people found the following comment useful :-
Best movie ever made, 27 juin 2001

Author: Christian Jahnsen de Hillerød, Denmark

A Clockwork Orange is the finest film that has ever been made, in my view. Stanley Kubrick has made so many masterpieces, and is by far the best director that ever graced our world. A Clockwork Orange is simply his finest hour!

The film grabs you and glues you to your seat from start to finish. Malcolm McDowell gives us a shining example of superior acting, and the movie is as perverted as any of Kubrick's masterpieces (and then some!). It contains horrifying violence, extreme emotions, perversity and weirdness at it's very worst. It all boils down to serve you a plethora of thoughts for you to take with you and contemplate, after the film ends.

However, with all the perversity bursting out of this film, you will probably NOT like this film the first time you see it. I know I didn't. Fortunately, I gave it a second chance, and thought: Hey, it was actually not bad at all. After the third time, I was lost for words.

After the fourth time, there was little doubt in my mind, that this was the finest film ever made, and regardless of how many great masterpieces I see, A Clockwork Orange still towers above them. I'm sure you'll agree, if you give it the chance it deserves, although it may require for you to see it more than once.

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219 out of 299 people found the following comment useful :-
Kubrick's best, 29 février 2000

Author: ickyptang

Stanely Kubrick's "A Clockwork Orange" is one of the first movies that proved that cinema can be the most enlightening and amazing art form around. Movies have always been a true love for me, but it wasn't until this film challenged me that I fell deeply in love. The first viewing left me speechless, unable to describe how weird and terrible I felt. I thought it was the film that left me in this mood, so of course that was the easy target to blame. It was just a bad movie, overrated and stupid and a waste of time. But upon further thought, I realised the film did exactly what it was supposed to. It showed how the world can be a weird and horrible place, and how this young man who goes around torturing people and being a wicked person ultimately doesn't have to pay for what he does. And it's funny too. So this film brilliantly satirises this world, showcasing pure evil and people who ordinarily do not perform such evil are forced to laugh and observe what we all hate to admit is the truth. It's sick, but at the same time brilliant. And when one gets down to the core, you can't really explain it. It just is what it is. It's real. No one really sees it very often, but it is out there and everyone knows. And no one does anything about it. In essence, "A Clockwork Orange" is the ultimate satire, and one of the ultimate film experiences. It's art, it's life, and in a funky way, it's entertaining.

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115 out of 139 people found the following comment useful :-
One of Kubrick's best, 25 février 2004

Author: MovieAddict2008 de UK

*** This comment may contain spoilers ***

To say that the Alex character from Stanley Kubrick's "A Clockwork Orange" is unlikable is like saying the Manson family was sort of bad. He's not just unlikable; he's despicable, terrifying, sick, twisted, and ultimately a haunting embodiment of all our greatest realistic fears and worries. But Alex does not see himself as a sick person. The key to this is in his voice-over narrative.

Alex does not see himself as a pervert, just as we do not see our own flaws and Ramond Babbitt did not see his own autism. To us, we are all normal, which is a scary thought.

"A Clockwork Orange," which was originally released in 1973 after an appeal for an R rating (that was granted after originally being tagged as an X-rated motion picture), had been banned from Britain for close to thirty years. Most film fans in Europe will tell you that they had seen the movie on grainy bootleg videotapes years ago when they were young and curious.

But for those of us lucky enough to enjoy (or squirm through) "A Clockwork Orange" in its entire odd splendor, it is an experience you are likely to never forget. Its characters, its style, its subject matter, its explicit material--all of it combines to create a marvelous whole that will stay with you long after the credits stop rolling.

Essentially a tale focused on Alex's journeys in jail and his process of being re-submitted to the world after inhumane treatments to cure the evil out of him, "A Clockwork Orange" is indeed as offbeat as its title.

All tales of redemption involve characters that we gradually come to appreciate, or like, or--at the very least--learn to tolerate. Not "A Clockwork Orange." Our narrator remains the same throughout the movie, always an incarnation of everything wrong in today's modern world. He goes through no cleansing process and by the end of the film we like him less than we did at the beginning. That's daring.

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138 out of 196 people found the following comment useful :-
The number one film of all time. **** out of ****, 18 septembre 1999

Author: Blake French (dlfspartan@aol.com) de USA

*** This comment may contain spoilers ***

A CLOCKWORK ORANGE (1971) ****

Starring: Malcolm McDowell, Patrick Magee, Michael Bates, Warren Clarke, and Adrienne Corri Written and Directed by Stanley Kubrick 137 minutes Rated R (for strong explicit sexual content and rape, perverse nudity, brutal violence, and some language)

By Blake French:

Stanley Kubrick's "A Clockwork Orange" holds the recent record of being the number one film of all time on my charts. The film is everything that you'll never want to watch. The scenes are disturbing, gut wrenching, mind twisting, and way over the top. In result, "A Clockwork Orange" has the most powerful and overwhelming dramatic impact that I have ever experienced in a mainstream film.

"A Clockwork Orange" is the story of a young man named Alex DeLarge, who is, by day, a regular student who lives with his parents at home, but, by night, a homicidal rapist/killer with his accomplices who dress up like demented clowns at a bleak freak show. He and his buddies weasel their way into the happy homes housing innocent people by chanting the same deceiving phrase every night: they scream that their friend has been critically wounded in an accident near by--and plead to use their telephone to call for help.

For a few unfortunate souls, this devious trick proves to be successful in nature. One night, however, a woman known as "The Cat Lady," refuses their plead, and calls the police in suspicion. Alex, being both smart and sneaky, somehow manages to break into this perverted woman's home, while his accomplices wait outside. Once indoors, a fight begins. A struggle featuring a sex toy owned by "Cat Lady," one that not only causes panicked arousal, but also is featured as the weapon of her graphic and disturbing murder. Alex quickly flees the scene once the police sirens reach his shaky ears, but when he gets back to his pal's waiting outside, they return their experiences with him by bashing him over the head with a hard object, allowing their jumbled escape, but his certain demise.

After the process of being sent to prison, Alex grows to learn to tell offices and guards what they like to hear. He reads the bible, is never involved with any major fights or complications, and almost volunteers for a new kind of experiment. An experiment so probationary it is still being tested and held under wraps. What it does, though a series of "sessions," is cure a violent individual from his sickness; he will feel terrible pain if involved in any sort of violence after the medicine takes place.

The scenes involving the "cure" of Alex's disturbances are truly emotionally troublesome. They are so explicit and detailed that I myself felt tempted to look away from the screen at points. This is not a film for those who are prone to walk out of movies, those who are easily offended, or especially for those with week stomachs. This is the most grizzly enumerated film I have even screened, but it happens to be one of the most perfect and precise in message. I definitely don't recommend the production to everyone, though.

The soundtrack to "A Clockwork Orange" is one of the most inspirational and spirited ones I have ever heard; right up there with the turns to "The Graduate" (1967). Although the actual music is far from fitting each individual scene, the overall presence is not only worth listening to, but also worth the purchase price.

Here, a young Malcolm McDowell explores the character of a lifetime with vivid imagination and tremendous description. His character fits him very well as an actor. Even though the character is meant to be despised, I couldn't help but to be very convinced and interested in his sick, demented, psychotic mind. Most of this is because of the flawless point of view the film contains, one that both provokes empathy and involvement. It investigates the mind of a killer, rapist, and a confused, somewhat harmless, adolescent--all existing in the same character. This is no doubt the character, and the performance, that inspired a generation.

As well as being a movie of violent and sexual repulsion, Stanley Kubrick's direction to "A Clockwork Orange" also forces us to investigate deep down in ourselves and chew on the idea of us being in the character's shoes. There is a scene in this movie that forces two parents to make a decision of a lifetime. After receiving the treatments he volunteered for, Alex returns to his household only to discover that the only mom and dad he's even known have rented his old room out to some strange college kid, who is said to have been there for them during many hard times--like a real son. His parents must make a choice: to throw their only son, who has suffered for years in turn for making others suffer, out of the house for good, or allow him to return with open arms trusting that he is "cured." Well, dear reader, what would you do? Brought to you by Warner Bros.

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139 out of 201 people found the following comment useful :-
The most thought provoking film of all time, 2 janvier 2000

Author: bigdgun (bigdgunferd@yahoo.com) de Central California

*** This comment may contain spoilers ***

This is just possibly the most "perfect" movie ever made. There is no meaningless dialog; not a single extraneous character; and every plot twist is rational and reasonable. Not to mention a superb soundtrack. Because of the intense violence, particularly against women, it is a disturbing and difficult film to sit through. But if you care about the cinema, you must watch without interruption! Characters get what they deserve...in the beginning and at the climax. Let Kubrick take you on the emotional rollercoaster of your cinematic life. And don't forget to breathe.

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114 out of 157 people found the following comment useful :-
My brief review of the film, 3 janvier 2005
Author: sol- de Perth, Australia

A disturbing but yet very beautiful piece of film-making, Kubrick has created the ultimate study of mind manipulation in this film. It is a protest against reform programs that take away freedom of a choice, and the message of the film in terms of paying for one's sins in all eternity is inescapable, evident to a large extent in the sardonic nature of the tale. Although set in the future, it hardly feels like it is, this being because the message of the film is overwhelmingly powerful and capable of applying to any age. The film has a number of possible hidden meanings to it – a feat equaled on scale only by Kubrick's former film '2001: A Space Odyssey'. Besides for the meaning behind the film, there are still the marks of a masterpiece. Kubrick's direction is superb alongside the good photography, capturing shadows and angles needed to establish tone. The editing is excellent too, done in a flashy, brainwashing style at times to have relevance to the film. The choice of cast is again inspirational, however the film achieves the most in terms of music. Kubrick manages to use one of the earliest forms of art, classical music, and give it an unforgettable style and importance in the film. It is truly a difficult task to explain what is so great about a film such as 'A Clockwork Orange' – it is maybe best explained by watching the film itself.

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94 out of 122 people found the following comment useful :-
Great Piece of Art, 28 juillet 2004
Author: varun_iitian de Bangalore, India

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.

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90 out of 120 people found the following comment useful :-
Watch this film with an open mind and see the film as it truly is: a masterpiece., 17 février 2004

Author: strangerzero de united states

*** This comment may contain spoilers ***

A Clockwork Orange (1971) is by far one of the most entertaining films I have ever seen. The characters are all so interesting that I wish the movie wouldn't end! All the actors do a fantastic job in their roles, especially Malcolm McDowell. The film's soundtrack is also quite great; I recommend that everyone should at least listen to it. The story for A Clockwork Orange goes like this:

Alex (Malcolm McDowell) is a cheerful young man who enjoys rape, violence, classical music, and just about everything sadistic. With his three droogs, Alex spends the nights terrorizing anyone who he might encounter. One night, after killing a woman with numerous cats, Alex's gang turns on him and leaves him at the hands of the law. Alex next finds himself in prison with the sentence of 14 years for his murder that night. While in prison, he hears about a free ticket out of his sentence. All he has to do is be a guinea pig for a scientific experiment. The experiment is supposed to make Alex "better" and revert him from being bad to good. Alex says yes, jumping at the opportunity to get free faster. After being brainwashed by the scientists, Alex returns to civilization as a free and good man. However, the experiment has some side-effects that were not intended, and Alex is left helpless as his past victims come to gain revenge on him.

As I said earlier, the acting (not to mention the soundtrack) is great. With the slew of Hollywood remakes on the rise, I can only hope that they never remake this classic. From the eye-grabbing first shot of the film to the confusing yet fulfilling last shot of the film, A Clockwork Orange remains to be one of my favorite films. Stanley Kubrick remains to this day, even after his death, as one of the best filmmakers of all time. Go and watch this film with an open mind. It truly is a masterpiece. I give A Clockwork Orange (1971) a 10 out of 10.

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60 out of 67 people found the following comment useful :-
Kubrick and the Art of Violence., 6 novembre 2005

Author: nycritic

*** This comment may contain spoilers ***

Stanley Kubrick has a way of telling stories about violence without actually exploiting them, or going into exaggeration. In DR STRANGELOVE, OR HOW I STOPPED WORRYING AND LEARNED TO LOVE THE BOMB violence as war was discussed, overheard, never truly seen until the final reel when a flurry of atomic bombs exploded into bright mushrooms as the song "We'll Meet Again" lovingly played in the background. In 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY Hal-9000 terminates an entire crew in a most chilling way and all we see is a computer screen indicating the termination of life. Now, in A CLOCKWORK ORANGE, Kubrick actually brings a story about violence, and even then it is art directed within an inch of its life.

Alex DeLarge is the leader of a band of 'droogs' who move from location to location terrorizing their victims, putting them under outrageous acts of violence. When two of his 'droogs' refuse to follow Alex's path of destruction, he turns on them and beats them, until an act of reversal turns against Alex and he is brought down by the medical industry who decides to "reform" his heretofore sociopathic tendencies. One he is cured, an interesting chain of humiliating events that bring Alex even farther down ensue: he is, for example, now attacked by his very ex-mates, now policemen, and his ex-victims. Sometimes the cure is far worse than the illness. Karma is a bitch.

Kubrick has a particular way of visualizing his films. A CLOCKWORK ORANGE has a look and feel completely out of its time, closer to sometime in the future, and its torture sequence in which Alex is regenerated also looks straight out of a science fiction movie. However, this is not a science fiction film. It's actually quite difficult to categorize CLOCKWORK because it's something of a social satire, something of a drama, has comedic moments and deconstructs a musical for a horrifying rape sequence; however, its approach to the material gives it the feel of a hybrid out of time, out of place, but visually arresting and impossible to take for granted. It's this approach that makes the work the product of a master of direction -- it can be seen multiple times and every time a different perspective arises, and all one can be left with is with the notion that this is pure, ultra-modern cinema.

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