$2.50 Reviews: A Clockwork Orange (1971)

[James Joseph Emerald]

The genius part of A Clockwork Orange the book is that it programs you as you read it. It's written in this fake, made-up language called Nadsat, based on Russian and Cockney rhyming slang, which at first divorces you from the violent content by making it sound absurd and silly ("tolchok them my droogs, until you see the red red krovvy"). Then as you read, you start to learn the language and gain a deeper understanding of what is going on and how Alex thinks. It's really clever.

The film, unfortunately, lacks both the veneer of absurdity which Nadsat lends to the story, as well as the "programs you while you read it" experience. It just takes the raw violence of the book and puts it on a screen. Which is why I think the book is a lot better. It's fairly short too, so I'd recommend giving it a read one weekend. Great book.

 

[Headdrivehardscrew]

This is one of but a few movies ever made that gets deeper and deeper each time you watch it.

I've first seen it some time during the 1980s. Oh, how we laughed. We dressed up and sang 'i'm singing in the rain' and considered it to be very funny indeed.

We watched it a couple of times in the 1990s, many times after it came out on DVD.

The more you know about the world, the more you understand nature and, especially, human nature, and the more specific subject matter portrayed in the movie, the harder the punchlines and punches land. This is not the kind of violence that numbs you down if you're at least partially right in your head. This is the kind of violence that makes you feel physically sick, and even though everything seems so over-the-top exaggerated it's cartoonish or Greek tragicomedy levels of far-out, this thing is pretty real and it wants to hit you right between the eyes.

This thing hits so many nerves if you go into it completely sober and wide awake, you'll consider carpal tunnel syndrome to be jolly good fun in comparison.

Who are the good guys in this movie? And what is it, really, that separates them from the naughty ones? How good could a bad guy ever become, be made? How bad could a good guy ever get, should he really let himself go? How much effort can human beings put into hurting others? What does it take to rehabilitate a murdering, raping, singing madman? What does it take to send anyone on a downward spiral of depravity?

I don't think Malcolm McDowell is alone as lead actor. There is something else that claims the number one slot for most screen time in this movie. It just seems to first exclusively manifest itself in Alex, but it's really omnipresent, omnipotent.

Who is to blame if a single individual goes on a killing rampage using reformed daddy preacher man's vast arsenal of guns?

What made a certain choice cut of today's youths enjoy repeatedly kicking the head of a downed, pretty much random opponent, until they've soiled their sneakers with blood and brain matter, which genuinely seems to make certain individuals very mad... or proud.

This movie came out 42 years ago. And yet, alas, it's still very much current issue.

 

[Beffudled Sheep_v1legacy]

*Before reading review, sees cover*
"Being the adventures of a young man whose principle interests are rape-"

.. . What?

*Reads entire review after*
... . What?

OT: This is personally me alone, but what kind of director makes a movie where the protagonist(s) go raping people with comedic music playing and we're suppose to eventually sympathize with these characters? That's horse crap ... I mean- personally I have gripes about rape (for I see it worse then murder but now it's not the time to debate about that) and this movie shows rape in a manner like it's nothing and we should root for the guys because of redemption forced at the end.

.. No, sorry .. but I would talk to the director and ask what the heck was he thinking.

Then again, people can see dark novels differently and our protagonists are obviously not good people at all. But again, if you make a movie and want us to care- don't make the protagonists sick and have them rape people. Just, no. No. Come now... seriously. Sorry ranting a bit, but this movie is going on my 'Forget' list which means i'll pretend it never existed.

The movie, while mostly a faithful adaptation of the book, actually is much lighter than the book. The book is many times darker and more depraved especially with the rape. A beautifully directed and acted film regardless of the events portrayed. Don't limit yourself buddy, the scenes are graphic but certainly not as graphic as a real rape or other more "hardcore" depictions.

OT: I'm not sure I see where you're coming from with the whole comedy aspect. I always viewed the parts you described as an attempt at comedy as scenes to further illustrate the depravity of the young man and his crew.
But I agree that it certainly isn't for everyone, hell it certainly isn't even for the majority.

Have you read the book? Just curious because I want to know what you thought of the differences between the film and the book. A couple are large but most are minor.

Oh man, it has been too long since I read the book. Obviously, I wouldn't know about OP, but I remember loving the book almost as much as I do the movie, but I seem to have forgotten a lot of it during the years. Obviously the ending is different, and the made up accent takes a much larger seat in the book, but for the life of me, that's all I can currently remember from the book!

Don't know if I am just in a weird place of mind, or if it really has been that long since I read the book. Can you help me remember some of the bigger differences? I don't have the book anymore, but now all these things I can't remember are killing me.

Well one of the biggest differences I noticed was

Spoiler

the scene where he picks up the two teen girls in the music store. In the film they're teens and they have consensual sex (repeatedly). In the book however the girls are 10 and he gets them drunk and repeatedly rapes them. Then of course you have the book's ending where Alex is an adult with a new baby on his hands and he is seeing the world much like Pete was when he "matured".

§


Oh yeaaah! Thanks a lot for refreshing my memory, man! I really need to get that darn book and read it again. I remember there being more nods to Alex doing things to much younger girls... Oh, and if I remember correctly, the movie never gave away how old Alex was, but to me at least, Malcom McDowell looked like he was in his 20's during the movie! In the book, Alex is like 16, right?

Yeah I think he was about 16 in the book. Maybe even 15.