A Clockwork Orange

B-

Directed by Stanley Kubrick

Stanley Kubirck's classic adaption of Anthony Burgess's novel evolved from a divisive, controversy baiting shock piece that was banned in the UK, censored in the United States that was reviled by a number of notably film critics, to a work that has largely been accepted into the pantheon of "great films" of the 20th century. Although I can certainly understand the praise, "A Clockwork Orange" being a brilliant achievement from a technical standpoint, it remains in my opinion a dark, unpleasant work that largely brushes aside issues of personal responsibility for violent or criminal action in an effort to pontificate on the ill effects of authoritarian government.

Alex, a young punk who commandeers his own band of thugs--or "droogs", as they are called--spends his days sleeping and his nights cruising around a neo-Fascist London engaging in, as he famously calls it, the "old ultra-violence" robbing, raping, beating and looting. Alex's life of crime is derailed, however, when an attempted burglary goes bad and he ends up bludgeoning a middle aged woman to death before being nabbed by the local bobbies. After appearing in court and pathetically claiming his innocence, Alex is sentenced to a hefty jail sentence at the local penitentiary. Wanting a quick out, however, Alex devises a plan to get out of prison far sooner than expected by participating in the government's new prisoner rehabilitation program. As Alex soon finds out, however, the price of a quick trip out of jail is possibly more than he had bargained for.

Kubrick's interpretation of Burgess's classic novel is, from a technical standpoint, virtually flawless. The vibrancy of the film's images, the crisp editing and creative shooting was so far ahead of its time that watching "A Clockwork Orange" next to other film's produced around the same time is almost shocking. Burgess's novel was definately original in many ways but credit needs to go to Kubirck for adapting it in such a eye catching and sleak way. Despite the technical brio of "A Clockwork Orange," however, I must say that it remains one of the most vapid social commentaries I've ever been exposed to and a generally unpleasant, ugly film. The massive protest and controvery that accompanied the film's release gave the public the illusion that there was some pretty heavy stuff going on in "A Clockwork Orange" and this misconception has continued to this day, leading Kubirck's film to be legitimized as a serious critique of right wing authoritarinism as a cure for a lawless society. In reality, "A Clockwork Orange" has little perceptive to say about issues such as the rehabilitation of criminals, the usefulness of prisons, or the nefarious effects of autocratic policies on free society. Moreover, as Pauline Keale noted in her review of the film in the New Yorker when it was originally released, "A Clockwork Orange" is almost pornographic in its efforts to dehumanize Alex's victims while in the end attempting to curry sympathy for his abuse at the hands of the government. Call me callous, but in the end I felt little sympathy for Alex, whose jail sentence and subsequent pyshcological trauma following his "rehabilitation" seemed quite well deserved, nor did I feel that anything significant was said about Alex's treatment at the hands of the government. It doesn't help that "A Clockwork Orange" takes itself deadlyt seriously and almost smacks the viewer in the face with its claims to high art. Nevertheless, the technical brilliance of this film makes it impossible me to simply turn up my nose at it no matter how much I may have disliked the film's content.