Rating of
3/4
A Clockwork Orange review
Daniel Corleone - wrote on 09/28/11
I feel you either hate this film or love it. I’m somewhere in the middle, leaning towards the latter. A group of “droogs” namely Alex DeLarge (Malcolm McDowell), Pete (Michael Tarn), Georgie (James Marcus), and Dim (Warren Clarke) perform malicious acts of crime such as stealing, fighting, violence (Mr. Alexander crippled) and rape (Mr. Alexander’s wife). The group invades a wealthy lady who was hit by an ornament by Alex. He was sentenced to 14 years in prison and 2 years undergoing the Ludovico Technique (a method in rehabilitating inmates of their crimes). The process worked and his ability to commit any misconduct has been diminished. Alex comes back to his home only to find out that his pet has died and that it was being rented by his parents to a person named Joe, which they accepted as their new son. He is in a coma for trying to commit suicide. The Minister of the Interior (Anthony Sharp) apologizes and in the end, Alex gets cured.
The bizarre flick has one of the most thought provoking scripts ever written. A few lines I personally enjoyed: Alex – “I just want to be good. I want for the rest of my life to be one act of goodness.” “You've proved to me that all this ultra-violence and killing is wrong, wrong, and terribly wrong. I've learned my lesson, sir…It's wrong because everybody has the right to live and be happy without being tolchocked and knifed.” Joe – “You're back to make life a misery for your lovely parents once more, is that it?” Chaplain – “Be patient, my son. Put your trust in the Lord.” Dr. Branom – “Violence is a very horrible thing.” Settings are futuristic and the cinematography was good. Some trepidations I had that affected my rating were a few over the top acting by the supporting cast, overdone dialogues that didn’t connect to the main premise and shots that went to long, which is probably the trademark of the director. The film’s score however was breathtakingly perfect for each scene. Malcom Mcdowell was just astounding in his role and the themes of behaviorism, control (which was performed on Alex for conditioning), and morality. It was ahead of its time, a film that exhibits excess in pornographic art, violence and sexual acts are wrong. The score, in being innovative premise, cinematography and acting of McDowell is sufficient reason to view this disturbing, at times comical and intellectual film. A Clockwork Orange has made a huge impact on various people be it positive or negatively, but has its reasons why it was created, and I’m sure the intent was good despite it being too shocking.
