A Clockwork Orange by Stuart Doty

Title/Year: Clockwork Orange 1971

Director/Birth Country/Year Born: Stanley Kubrick/ New York/ 1928

Budget: $2,200,000

Gross: $26,589,355

Synopsis:   A group a young men terrorize the streets of Britain committing horrible crimes such as theft, rape, and murder.   Eventually, Alex, the leader of the gang is arrested and convicted of his crimes.  While in prison he learns of an experimental social program that alters the habits of the brain to detest violence and any other acts that are deemed unsavory. Volunteers receive remuneration through reduced sentences. Alex completes the program and is released back into the public, though the side effects of the experiments prove to be a little more than what he bargained for. 

Narrative and Visual Keywords: Gangs, futuristic 1970’s, rape, revenge, bowler hats, cod pieces, ultra-violence, Britain.

Characterization/ Dialogue: The Story is told through the point of view of Alex. We are privy to his feeling and thoughts as we hear several narrative monologues throughout the film.  The dialogue is stylized in a British street slang vernacular. This lends to a cavalier attitude when talking about grave matters such as murder and rape.  This gives us insight to the lack of compassion Alex and his cronies actually feel.

Camera/lighting/editing technique:  The camera moves play a large role within the presentation of this film. One of the most iconic scenes from the film is the opening. We start off with a close up of Alex, as the camera dolly’s back we see that he is stationed with his friends around a table inside some sort of nightclub. As the Dolly continues to move back we catch other strange things such as mannequins posed in erotic positions, some of which are used to dispense milk out of their breast.  It is an effective scene in the sense that as the viewer become more uncomfortable as more of the surroundings are revealed.

Political/ Social Commentary : see below

Historical Relevance/ Recognition: There are no opening credits after the title, which is followed by the opening shot of Alex the Droog. Although it is now commonplace for major films to not have opening credits, in 1971 it was considered rather unusual and was considered a trademark of director Stanley Kubrick (IMDB).

Notable Collaboration: A Clockwork Orange is based off the 1962 novel “A Clockwork Orange” by Anthony Burgess.

Random fact, Etc: Malcolm McDowell and Stanley Kubrick played a lot of Ping Pong on the set of A Clockwork Orange; Stanley Kubrick became sort of obsessed with the game trying desperately to beat Malcolm McDowell. Before the end of production He never did according to Malcolm McDowell.

Why is the film considered controversial? Where was it banned?

The film was banned in Britain after being pulled by Stanley Kubrick himself. During the years prior to its release, violent crimes had been on the rise in Britain and other parts of the UK. A Clockwork Orange came out at just the right time to ruffle feathers about the subject. Maurice Edelman, the Labor MP for Coventry West and co-chairman of the All-Party Film Committee was quoted for saying this.

            “The film stimulates for two and a half hours an appetite for sadistic violence with the instantaneous communication which the visual arts uniquely offer...I believe that when 'A Clockwork Orange' is generally released, it will lead to a Clockwork cult which will magnify teenage violence (Bugge). ”

What societal "comfort zones" does it push the limit of?

 Surely as mentioned above, the limit’s of acceptable violence that was considered viewable was in jeopardy. Certain parties were concerned that the film would spark with youths a romanticism to emulate the behavior of Alex and his droogs.

Would it still be considered controversial if it were released today?

I believe it would still be controversial. Any material in which glorifies the behaviors that we as a society have deemed ill fit, will always be controversial. Though I don’t think that it would ban from viewing if it were released today.

Do you feel the director's choice to show the material is ethically sound?

I don’t think ethics had anything to do with his decisions in the way of how the material was presented. Stanly Kubrick chose to make a movie based of the story by Anthony Burgess; I believe Kubrick’s ethics were based more around being true to the author’s original material rather than the moral aspects of the story.  

Would you recommend this film to a friend?

Instead of recommending this film, I would probably give them a synopsis of what the movie is about, without any spoilers. I would speak of the finer points that this film has to offer along with a disclaimer revolving the subject matter. This would allow a person to decide for himself or herself whether it is something they would choose to watch.

Citation:

1. Bugge, Christian. "The Clockwork Controversy." Visual Memory.co. N.p., n.d. Web. 27 Feb 2012. <http://www.visual-memory.co.uk/amk/doc/0012.html>.

2.  Nikki Carlyle "A Clockwork Orange ", Internet Movie Database. IMDB, n.d. Web. 22 Jan 2012. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0066921/