Plot Details: This opinion reveals major details about the movie's plot.

After achieving an artistic masterpiece with the 1968 sci-fi film 2001: A Space Odyssey, Stanley Kubrick was at a level that many other directors couldn't achieve. He had become the ultimate auteur with such diverse films like Lolita, Spartacus, Paths of Glory, The Killing, and his 1964 war-satire masterpiece Dr. Strangelove. After taking a break from the success of 2001, Kubrick was plotting plans for his next idea. One was a project about Napoleon Bonaparte but after the failure of a film called Waterloo, Kubrick abandoned his Napoleon project as he then leaned on a highly-controversial novel by Anthony Burgess that satirize the world of ultra-violence, sex, and morality set in the future through the eyes of a young man entitled A Clockwork Orange.

Produced, directed, and an adapted script by Kubrick, A Clockwork Orange like many of Kubrick's films is very controversial in its themes and subject matters when the film is really a study of human nature. Playing the role of the young man named Alex is Malcolm McDowell, who plays a kid who enjoys sex, violence, and Beethoven whose dangerous lifestyle leads him into trouble as he becomes part of a sick experiment where everything he loved is used against him. While it's a part satire film on society, the film really explores a young man’s joy as he later becomes a politically victim. Released in 1971, A Clockwork Orange is another defining masterpiece from Stanley Kubrick as he explores the darkest view of humanity.

It’s a typical night at the Korova Milkbar as Alex along with fellow gang of Droogs, Pete (Michael Tarn), Georgie (James Marcus), and Dim (Warren Clarke) decided to prepare for their night of decadence. After assaulting a homeless tramp (Paul Farrell), they beat up on a gang while wreaking havoc on the British roads in Alex's Durango '95 automobile where they break-in to a house owned by Frank Alexander (Patrick Magee) and his wife (Adrienne Corri) as Alex rapes her in front of Frank while singing "Singing In The Rain" and wearing masks. After a night of ultra-violence, Alex and his Droogs return to the Korova Milkbar where Alex hears a woman singing Beethoven as Dim interrupts her where Alex assaults him for having no manners. Alex returns home where to complete the evening, he puts on the Ninth Symphony by his favorite composer, Beethoven.

Away from his world of ultra-violence and sex, Alex is merely just a regular young man who lives with his parents (Sheila Raynor and Phillip Stone) as he wakes up one day to find his headmaster, Mr. P.R. Deltoid (Aubrey Morris) who knows what Alex has been doing for all of these nights and wants him away from trouble. Alex goes alone to pick up a record where he meets two young women, who he takes home and has sex with them while later meeting up with his Droogs. Georgie and Dim decided to take charge where Alex would later assault them until he takes up their suggestion into breaking into a house of a caretaker (Miriam Karlin) who lives in a house with cats. After an attempt to get in, Alex decides to try again by sneaking into the house as he tries to charm his way with the caretaker as she tries to defend herself only to be hit with a sculpture. Alex leaves the house to be beaten up by Dim and Georgie as he is captured with Deltoid telling him that he is now charged with murder and to be sent to prison for the next 40 years.

Within two years of his sentence as he is being looked on by a guard (Michael Bates), Alex learns a way to get out of prison by volunteering for an experimental, radical treatment that will make him good. After talking to the prison chaplain (Godfrey Quigley) and getting the attention from the minister (Anthony Sharp) about the treatment, Alex successfully gets a transfer to a facility. After meeting with the facility's head, Dr. Brodsky (Carl Duering) and his assistant Dr. Branom (Madge Ryan), he is given an experimental test to watch films of sex and violence where after several hours, he becomes ill. Then one session featured the Ninth Symphony of Beethoven as the music he loved has turned against him. After a final experiment where he gets assaulted and seduced by a stage actress that forced him to be ill, Alex was sent home.

When Alex arrives home, he learned that his room has been taken by a lodger (Clive Francis) and he is forced out since his parents can't kick out the lodger since he pays rent. Alex, is saddened as he is forced to be on his own, can't assault anyone or do anything as he now becomes a victim of his own world. After being assaulted by the homeless tramp he beat up two years ago along with a bunch of tramps, he gets captured assaulted by Georgie and Dim, who have both become police officers. Alone and defenseless, Alex walks to the home of Mr. Alexander, who has recognized him as Alex is in care not knowing what will happen to him. Instead, after Mr. Alexander knows what he plans to do as he tortures Alex where the result ensues into near-tragedy and political scandal.

While the film is mainly a satire, it's also a study on morality, violence, and human nature. While the protagonist of Alex maybe a sadistic, violent, anti-authority, rebellious anti-hero, he is a very complex character that isn't stupid but one who knows his limits. While many won't agree with his unique views on sex and violence, his ideas seems to be more cartoonish since he enjoys fighting gangs and rebel against the ills of society. He loves sex and everything about it, even if it meant raping a woman despite his cruel intentions. Plus, his love for Beethoven's Ninth Symphony seems to calm him down as he tries to escape from the real world that he lives in. Then when he becomes part of the Ludovico treatment, the intention of sex, violence, and Beethoven is taken to new extremes. In fact, their treatment is far more violent than what Alex does since its done for political means and science.

Part of the genius goes to Kubrick for taking Burgess' bleak view of the future to new extremes, as he tests the boundaries of what is obscene. In his writing, Kubrick goes for playfulness and humor while most of it is a study of a young man's love for life as it turns against him to the point that he's powerless. He knows that Alex never wanted to kill anyone but as the film progress, there is sympathy since he is being used against his will for all means. It's a very powerful statement of how government works to try to clean up morality and it is pretty relevant since America is in a state of paranoia and we might end up turning on ourselves. It also shows how violence has worsened since it's now more politically-motivated and is all done for all the wrong reasons.

If Kubrick's ability as storyteller is more provocative, his directing is as more entrancing than he did in 2001. He brings not just an eerie tone to the film but also brings humor in a few sequences, notably a fast sex scene that is shot on speed with the William Tell Overture played in fast time. Kubrick's uses of steady camera pans, zoom lenses, and slow-motion show his ability to shoot scenes that are given real power in its frame and intention, even in scenes where he uses hand-held cameras to give the first-point view of our protagonist. His take on violence isn't that extreme compared to today's cinema since he takes one part of it in a comical sense and another in a cruel approach. This along with Kubrick's approach to light with cinematographer John Alcott shows his brilliance in terms of lighting where he gives the film a unique look and movement along with a tone that is very futuristic.

If Kubrick and Alcott's cinematography is brilliant in its tone, so does the production design of John Barry along with art directors Russell Hagg and Peter Shields. The film’s look is very futuristic with model-like statues, futuristic cars, and appliances that are all filled with strange designs and colors. The film's design is very distinct and memorable along with Milena Canonero's amazing costume design from the bowler-hat and white clothing the Droogs wear to the strange, colored clothing that Alex wears outside of his Droog world and the clothing of his parents that is very whimsical from the hair-coloring of Alex's mother and the makeup that people wear. Kubrick's genius in terms of look is also done in presentation thanks to editor Bill Butler for his nicely-paced feel of the film along with that infamous, fast-edited sequence of Alex having sex with two women with John Jordan doing great sound manipulation in the sound design.

With many of Kubrick's film, the music is very important as the film features many great musical elements of work ranging from classical composers like Beethoven, Henry Purcell, and Gioachino Antonio Rossi that gives the film a feeling of idiosyncratic tones. Beethoven's Ninth Symphony is played dominantly whether in its original orchestral composition to the eerie electronic score of Wendy Carlos who gives some wonderful original music that plays to the film's dark, sci-fi feel as her synthesizers sucks in the audience with each, eerie melody.

While the film has a large cast of small characters, many of them standout including Adrienne Corri, Miriam Karlin, Clive Francis, Godfrey Quigley, Sheila Raynor, Phillip Stone, and Madge Ryan along with Steven Berkoff as an investigator and the future Darth Vader, David Prowse as Mr. Alexander’s bodyguard. Of the Droogs with the exception of Michael Tarn as the quiet Pete, James Marcus and Warren Clarke stand out the most with Clarke's comical, brash performance and Marcus as the serious of the Droogs. Aubrey Morris is excellent in his role as Alex's school superior along with Michael Bates as the prison guard and Carl Duering as the torturous Dr. Brodsky. Of the supporting cast, Anthony Sharp and Kubrick regular Patrick Magee stand out the most in their respective roles as the minister and the revenge-crazed Mr. Alexander.

While the film has a great cast, the film really belongs to Malcolm McDowell in the most memorable role of his career. McDowell brings a charming yet sadistic performance as a young man who loves sex, violence, and Beethoven but seems to try and test his limits. With McDowell serving as a narrator, he is the heart of the movie as he tries to understand the world only to see that if he did take his love of sex and violence to extremes, it would make him sick. McDowell brought an innocence as his character develops from a funny little devil to a helpless youth alienated by the world as everything he loved turns against him. While McDowell never could equate the brilliance of his performance in A Clockwork Orange, he remains an icon of sorts with recent critically acclaimed films for Robert Altman's The Company, Paul McGuigan’s cult film Gangster No. 1, and more recently, the hit comedy In Good Company with Scarlett Johansson playing a character named Alex.

When the film was released in late 1971, it received the X rating for its sex and violence despite some good reviews and box office but in the U.K., it was more troubling. Inspired by the gang violence of the film, there was a series of gang-like violence reminiscent of the film that became more troubling, Kubrick asked Warner Brothers to pull the film from British theaters for several years. Still, A Clockwork Orange became a cult classic in the years to come as it is often parodied in music videos by artists like Motley Crue and Rob Zombie to The Simpsons. More than 30 years since its release, the film has become a staple of great cinema for its extreme take on culture, politics, and morality.

Of the four great films that Stanley Kubrick made from 1964-1975, A Clockwork Orange is the one film to see for its look, style, and ambiguity along with Malcolm McDowell’s amazing performance. Though this film would be a great introduction to Kubrick's films, it's not a film that is meant to be taken very seriously though you still have to think about what extremes that goes on. For a film that pushes the boundaries of morality, A Clockwork Orange would be a great film to see if you're looking for a cool Halloween costume.

Stanley Kubrick Reviews:

The Killing (1956):

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Paths of Glory (1957):

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Spartacus (1960):

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Lolita (1962):

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Dr. Strangelove or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (1964):

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2001: A Space Odyssey (1968):

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Barry Lyndon (1975):

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The Shining (1980):

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Full Metal Jacket (1987):

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Eyes Wide Shut (1999):

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Stanley Kubrick-A Life in Pictures (2001):

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Recommended: Yes

Viewing Format: DVD
Video Occasion: Good for Groups
Suitability For Children: Not suitable for Children of any age