Movie Reflection: A Clockwork Orange

A Clockwork Orange is a film directed by Stanley Kubrick, based on the Anthony Burgess novel by the same name. And it is safe to say that it blew my mind.

A Clockwork Orange did not screw with me in a classical sense. The ideas presented in the movie are not hard to wrap one's mind around, but the cinematography gave it a strange voyeuristic effect that made it seem like I was watching something I was not supposed to be. That, combined with the intentional association of typically happy compositions with scenes of "ultra-violence" left me with a disturbed feeling of disassociation with my own life for a couple hours after viewing the movie. 

The first thing I noticed in this movie was the play-like feel I received from the actors. All of the lines were delivered very much as if it was meant to be an on-stage performance. This could have been a sign of the times, being filmed in the early 70's, but I also got the impression that a lot of the actors were classically trained, leading to a very play-like atmosphere on screen, and I quite enjoyed that.

In the beginning of the movie the word "ultra-violence" was used frequently. I have a bit of a problem with this in that none of the actions portrayed in the film constituted, in my mind, "ultra-violence". Now, maybe this can also be attributed to the film's age, as there is no doubt a bunch of these scenes were very edgy in the early 70's. I had always heard about the infamous rape scene(s). Not that I looked forward to viewing rape, as I find it quite disturbing, but none of the scenes really came across to me as being particularly gruesome or over the top. 

Another thing I noticed early on in the film was all of the eroticism in random places throughout, such as in the abandoned lobby where the "droogs" hung out. On the wall there were pictures of naked guys with their genitalia crossed out and a few dirty and disturbing phrases written, such as "If it moves, kiss it" and "Suck it and see". Also, a little later on, our main character, Alex DeLarge, broke into a house where all the walls were covered with erotic paintings, and even a sculpture of a penis becomes heavily involved in the story. Now, maybe this is my notoriously dirty mind at work noticing all these things (and anyone who knows me may claim this) but I think that this is Stanley Kubrick simply doing a good job of setting up a disturbing atmosphere.

*Spoilers From Here On*

 There were a few things I noticed from Alex's time in prison. The first was his admittance of enjoying the Bible, followed by all of his sociopathic reasons why, ranging from his desire to be one of the Romans torturing Jesus, to his love of the Bible's frequent sexual depictions. He did note that he had to skip the boring parts to find the interesting bits. Then there was the clever foreshadowing of the rest of the story by the priest, explaining how one cannot simply be made good, but has to choose goodness for oneself (this is also the overarching message of the movie). Another thing I loved was Chief Guard Barnes. 

 (explicit warning) 

Barnes was a light-weight version of Gunnery Sergeant Hartman as seen in one of Kubrick's later films, Full Metal Jacket.

 (explicit warning)

Alex's "rehabilitation" toward non-violence easily made up the most frightening scenes in the movie for me. Almost everyone has at least seen a still frame of this before. Alex in a straight jacket, tied to a chair, with eyes clamped open. A frightening sight, no doubt.

I found the music in A Clockwork Orange absolutely wonderful. Pieces like Beethoven's 9th  and The Funeral of Queen Mary are obviously great examples of music, but it was the way music was used in this film that blew me away. The title music from A Clockwork Orange is an electronic transcription of Henry Purcell's Funeral of Queen Mary by Wendy Carlos, and it created an effect of disturbance throughout the movie.

                                                        (Funeral of Queen Mary by Wendy Carlos)

Overall, I found A Clockwork Orange to be pretty enjoyable. I appreciated the use of Alex DeLarge as both the main character and the narrator. It made for an interesting connection with him and led to a relationship that I found riddling at times. Near the end of the movie I became slightly annoyed by Kubrick's constant spoon-feeding of the movie's message. However, I caught onto another message that I do not think they meant to imply. At the end of the movie where everyone is getting payback on Alex for being the ass he was in the beginning, they stumbled upon the overall hypocrisy of society. People responded to his presence with "ultra-violence" even after his complete reformation, thus causing him to resort back to his old, violent, ways. If they had allowed bygones to be bygones, he would have remained a reformed and non-violent person.

On a more personal note, the first edition of me and my father's podcast, Convince Me, is going up tomorrow Sunday, May 1st. It will be going live at 10:45 PM EST, and the recording will also be available for listening at http://www.talkshoe.com/tc/9791
We will be talking about Body Modification. So please, listen in, and call in live if you get the chance! To clarify, both the live and listenable versions of the podcast will be available at the above link.
 

As always I fully encourage any criticism, advice, suggestions, or general discussion in the comment area.
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