'A Clockwork Orange' (Stanley Kubrick, 1971)

Title: 'A Clockwork Orange'

Release Year: 1971

Director: Stanley Kubrick

Cast: Malcolm McDowell, Patrick Magee, Adrienne Corri, Miriam Karlin, Godfrey Quigley, Anthony Sharp, Warren Clarke.

Plot: In a modernist future, Alex is the head of a gang which worships ultraviolence, that and his love for Beethoven conform his entire life. When he's jailed for the murder of a woman, he'll do anything to leave the prison, taking a dangerous decision.

Review: In a strange futuristic world with colorful wigs, strange locations and a different society, Alex uses ultraviolence as a day to day way of expressing himself (as shown in the raping scene where he sings 'Singin' in the Rain' while he undresses the writer's woman).

The first of the two Kubrick movies that I'm going to review, 'A Clockwork Orange' reaches the other side in terms of transgression and controversity. Considered a cult film by many, Alex's actions and his behaviour have given praise to its creator Stanley Kubrick.

The creation of Alex's character was very praised by audiences and critics

Although I didn't specially worship the character, I did appreciate how intelligent he is and how, in his mind, there's only one way to tell a story as complex as his. Not only does the film hand the microphone to the criminal this time, but also helps us to understand his mind and why he ultimately decides to offer himself as a test subject for the Ludovicho technique.

Is the Ludovicho technique a useful and viable way to reduce agressive behaviours or just annulates criminals as human beings?

Once practiced his possibilities to perform evil actions are drastically reduced but far from solving the problem it transforms Alex's life into a torture nightmare. In the end, government actions are criticized and Alex is restored as a hero. No one can deny that such a message was quite controversial back in the early 70s and even if you haven't loved the film (like in my case), you must recognize that the technique didn't eliminate the evil side of Alex, it just imprisoned it; doing the right thing has no value if you don't have the option to choose. Like some philosophers affirm, nor hell nor heaven have sense if man hasn't got the freedom to decide whether to sin or not.