Monday, May 21, 2007

A Clockwork Orange (1971)

Synopsis: Alex de Large loves the girls, and he just can't seem to resist the ultra violence in futuristic Britain where everything has gone to hell and the only freedom exists in a person's mind and his willingness to take what he wants. Life is just peachy for Alex until he takes too much and kills an old woman. He gets convicted of murder and gets sent away for 14 long years. In prison, he takes a liking towards god and tries to reform himself until three years into his sentence when he comes across a new treatment to exterminate the crminial nature in a person through an experimental process. Alex volunteers and is "cured". Upon his release, he begins to see the world for the shit hole it really is.

Should You Watch It? This film is absolutely amazing. Forget the 1971 timestamp cause this movie is an instant classic that can't be dated. The deep political criticism spoken through an anti-hero whose completely nuts is a new way of looking at society. Stanley Kubrick has done a great job in showing you the psyche of a criminal and shows us how criminals are just a manifestation of the wrongs of society. Some of you may think that this film is designed to just criticise and preach but it really isn't. This film is deeply entertaining. It uses great technique for it's time and every detail has been thought of in order to create a futuristic Britain.

Things to Watch Out For: This movie is really grim. It has some pretty graphic scenes containing murder and rape or both! It's important to associate these scenes with the music because Alex projects his mental state into the music that's playing while he's doing these things. And the music changes once he's out of prison and begins to see what a crap world it is. The imagery is strong in this film as well. Costumes and settings play an important role in showing us the mental state of Alex and his gang.

Things You Don't Expect: You will be surprised how fast two hours fly by! Haha no seriously though. You really don't expect to sympathize with Alex. In the beginning he is one bad ass criminal but in the end when he comes out of the program and you see what society has done to him, you really feel as if no one deserves to have live a life that's not their own. There are a lot of things worse than death and Alex experiences them all and his character should be remembered in film for a long time.

Final Comments:
Story: 9.8
Direction: 8.0
Acting: 8.8
Cinematography: 8.0
Music/Sound: 9.0

Final Score: 9.0

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