Stanley Kubrick wrote and directed the dystopian crime film A Clockwork Orange
In the year 1971, Stanley Kubrick wrote and directed the dystopian crime film A Clockwork Orange. The film had a budget of $2.2 million but well exceeded that in the box office racking up $26.6 million in North America alone.
It is based on the 1962 novel of the same name by Anthony Burgess and employs violent disturbing images to comment about psychiatry, juvenile delinquency, youth gangs and other social, political, and economic subjects within the films setting.
The film is centered around the young charismatic sociopath Alex DeLarge, played by Malcolm McDowell, as he and his gang, or 'Droogs' as he refers to them, rape and assault civilians and other gangs in what is coined as "Ultra-Violence".
The film is narrated by Malcolm McDowell as Alex in a combination of Nadsat (a fractured adolescent Slavic slang), English, and Cockney rhyming as he and his gang Pete (Michael Tarn), Dim (Warren Clarke), and Georgie (James Marcus) go on there delinquent rampages across a dystopian near- future Britain.
The film chronicles the gangs rampages, Alex's capture, and his controversial psychological rehabilitation. On a drug fuiled spree the gang attacks a rival gang, invaded a writers house and cripples him then forces him to watch as Alex rapes his wife while harmonicly singing "Singin' in the Rain".
The next day his probation officer Mr. P. R. Deltoid, played by Aubrey Morris, visits him and informs him that he knows what Alex had been doing and warned him about further action. His gang members visit him a short time after to inform him of their discontent with the fact they only did petty crimes and wanted to do more high weilding crimes, which prompted Alex to assert his domincence and attack them. He and his gang then go out on another evenging of crime and theft.
While on his crime spree Alex kills a women unintentionally then is betrayed by his 'Droogs' the the police and is arrested where his probation officer explains how he Alex's victim earlier had died and he was sentenced to 14 years in prison. After 2 years Alex eagerly takes the opportunity to be a part of a new Ludovico technique which makes Alex nauseated by the sight of sex and violence and the sound of his formally favorite song, Beethoven's Ninth Symphony.
When he is released from prison he is attacked by Georgie and Dim, who are now policemen, and they nearly drown him. Alex escapes to a house who so happens to be the house of the man he crippled years ago. The man doesn't immediately recognize Alex but as Alex is allowed to shower and recuperated he begins singing "Singin' in the Rain", causing the man to have flashbacks of the incident.
The man locks Alex in his room and blares Beethoven's Ninth Symphony from the floor below, driving Alex to through himself out a window in hopes of suicide. He awakes in the hospital, no longer nauseated by sex, violence, or "Ode to Joy". The film was nominated for several awards including the Academy Award for Best Picture. It holds a 90%"Certified Fresh" among critics on Rotten Tomatos.
I personally enjoy the film due to it's commentary on psychiatry being controversial and troubled youth being a problem in the world and its also the fact Stanley Kubrick is simply one of my favorite directors. It also increased sales of Beethoven's Ninth and ranked 75th on the Directors Poll and 235th on the Critics Poll. It was re-released in North American in 1973 and earned $1.5 million in rentals. I do believe that "A Clockwork Orange" will go down in history as possibly one of the most explicit movies of all time, but also as a classic and one of the best movies of all time.
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