Horrorshow

"A Clockwork Orange"
Overall Rating: ****½


Normally, I don't like horror movies. "A Clockwork Orange" isn't a normal horror movie, however.

Alex (Malcolm McDowell) is an evil man. A typical day for him consists of drinking drug-laced milk with his friends Dim, Pete, and Georgie (Warren Clarke, Michael Tarn, and James Marcus respectively), then accompanying them on trips to beat up a homeless man, pick a fight with another gang of youths, and steal a car to go out to the country, so they can beat up a writer (Patrick Magee) and rape the writer's wife (Adrienne Corri). Then Alex simply goes home, and listens to Beethoven as though nothing really happened. What could possibly be worse than Alex? Perhaps the efforts to reform him.

This is a classic battle between two monsters: in this case, the immoral individual and the leviathan state. What makes "A Clockwork Orange" particularly effective--and particularly scary--is that both monsters are completely real. The writers have excellent insights into their monsters. Alex doesn't show the slightest regard for others' rights or for morality; he doesn't even regard his victims as human beings (as an illustration, take his comment, "If you need a motorcar, you pluck it from the trees"). On the side of the state, the most telling line is when the prison official states, "We are not concerned with motives, with the higher ethics. We are concerned only with cutting down crime and with relieving the ghastly congestion in our prisons." There is a point to this battle of monsters: the government doesn't handle criminals well; the state tends towards either coddling them, or resorting to draconian punishments.

Despite its intellectual content, the film does suffer from a near total lack of sympathetic characters. Normally, I like to have someone in the film I can sympathize with, and here, only a few minor characters are somewhat empathetic. A film usually has to be extremely good in other ways to overcome this flaw.

Fortunately, "A Clockwork Orange" is good in every other regard, and the filmmakers show a great deal of creativity elsewhere. Some of it traces back to Anthony Burgess' book; the most prominent example is the futuristic slang, (where "horrorshow" has become a word for "excellent," for instance). The frequent slang, more than just linguistic speculation, creates even more distance between the audience and the protagonists.

This starting point is added to Kubrick's skill. Many scenes are dark, but all are adequately lit. The use of music is ironic, and gives the film an unreal feel: when Alex sings "Singin' in the Rain" while beating two helpless people, it somehow makes it all the worse. (And where would an uncultured thug acquire a taste for Beethoven, anyway?) Another nice touch is what happens to Dim and Georgie (also, take a close look at what Dim is wearing--there's another flourish in his costume--though identifying it would spoil the plot). Kubrick pays attention to the small details, and it shows here.

The actors also deserve credit for making "A Clockwork Orange" a great film. Among the supporting cast, Godfrey Quigley is probably the best, playing the prison chaplain--perhaps the only person in the film who shows genuine concern for Alex. There is no mistake about it, however, Malcolm McDowell commands this movie. His excellent performance is important because his character is in nearly every scene. His character is definitely paradoxical, having a taste for "ultra-violence," but at the same time, gently caring for his pet snake and loving classical music: McDowell captures Alex's human and inhuman sides with equal skill.

"A Clockwork Orange" is definitely not a family film. There is copious violence including graphic on-screen rape and murder, several graphic sex scenes including full frontal nudity, and some scenes where characters drink drug-laced milk. Add in some strong language (though this is less than might be expected, owing to the futuristic slang), graphic depiction of a brutal psychological "treatment," and the young protagonist's complete immorality, and the result is a film that, while interesting for adults, is completely unsuitable for children.

"A Clockwork Orange" is frightening, intriguing, and very well made. It is simply the best horror movie I've ever seen, and Stanley Kubrick has created a masterpiece in it.

Title: "A Clockwork Orange"
Release date: 1971
MPAA rating: R
Overall rating: ****½
Aprox. run time: 137 min.
Director: Stanley Kubrick
Writers: Stanley Kubrick (screenplay), Anthony Burgess (novel)
Stars: Malcolm McDowell, Patrick Magee

Original URL: http://www.geocities.com/reviewsbyjohn/ACO.htm
Added to blog site: 7/27/09