I just made a large post about my favorite movie and lost it. So here goes again. Don't ya just hate when that happens.

My favorite movie right now is Stanley Kubrick's Clockwork Orange (1971) It is the film adaptation of the book "A Clockwork Orange" by Anthony Burgess (1962).

I first saw the film at school. The film gets shown at colleges in film courses of course, but also sociology and psychology courses ( I saw it in a Social Deviance Class).

***Spoiler Warnings! I discuss the Film and Book Below***

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The movie is often described as

Quote:
Being the adventures of a young man whose principal interests are rape, ultra-violence
and Beethoven.


The story is about a teen named Alex DeLarge. This guy is a bad news kinda guy. Alex and his three droogs get drugged on some Milk Plus and then head out for nights of the old ultraviolence.

Pic of Alex:

www.clockworkorange.com/pictures.shtml

But the movie is more than the violence that saturates the first half of the film. One of the major themes of the film asks this question: Does a man cease to be a man when he loses the right to choose between "good" and "evil"?

See Alex likes to beat up homeless people, fight other gangs, run people off the road/steal cars, rape, and eventually he causes the accidental death of another.

And that (a long with a betrayal by his droogs) leads Alex on his journey. Alex goes to jail for murder.

But he is selected for a new procedure that is going to cure thugs like Alex from their criminal ways.

The procedure is called the Ludavico technique. Alex is strapped to a chair and his eyes are held open by an apparatus as he is forced to viddy terrible images on a screen.

This conditions him to get on with a horrible sickness if he thinks about violence or sex. But there is a side effect the films have a sound track so Alex is conditioned against music! And music (or specifically Beethoven's 9th Symphony) is another one of Alex's loves.

Alex becomes a Clockwork Orange.

Anyhow after Alex is released he goes through a lot of bad stuff. I won't spoil it but lets just say what goes around comes around. He gets whats coming to him, but you feel sorry for him anyways.

Eventually Alex is cured of his conditioning and he can go back to his ways of ultra violence.

That is where the story ends. But the book doesn't end there. The book had a final chapter that wasn't included in the film because Kubrick was unaware of the chapter (it wasn't published in the US).

In the final chapter Alex realizes he was a Clockwork Orange before his conditioning. He realizes how mechanical he was with violence.

Alex simply grows up.

I actually liked how the movie ended and where it ended. The final chapter in the book doesn't quite feel like it meshes well with the rest of the book, but I did like how Alex realizes he was already a Clockwork Orange.

Being too good or too bad will make you a clockwork orange but going back and forth between the two .. now maybe thats being human.

Because the film has strong violence and strong sex/nudity (which go along with the strong violence part) I won't give it a recommendation if you haven't already seen it.

Some scenes I turn my head and don't watch.

One of the reasons I liked the movie was of course the message, but I also liked how it wasn't an audience pleasing type of movie. I also liked the style.

Also even though Alex was a bad guy what appeals to audiences and why the movie is like a cult classic is because of the non comforming attitudes of Alex and his droogs. They did whatever they wanted... but fortunately there were consequences (well for Alex anyway).

It would be easy to say Alex was sick or that he was psycho, but he wasn't. Thats the scary part I guess. Its hard for people to believe that people who do horrible things are just like us or that they aren't mentally ill. Alex liked what he did.. even though we sure as heck don't want guys like Alex on the streets.

So another question is what do we do with guys like Alex, besides lock them up? Would aversion therapy work?

There are a lot of stuff I'm leaving out because I wouldn't want to spoil the whole movie or the book.

But I've read a lot of reviews that think the movie glorifies violence and rape. I don't know if that is true or not but I do know that the book has more of both.

The film was banned for like 30 years in England. It was re released only after Kubrick's death in 1999. A lot of people believe it was banned because of the copy cat violence that occured after the movie came out, but according to Kubricks daugther on a Yahoo Mailing List (who isn't on one of those things!) that the real reason he decided to ban the movie there was because him and his family were recieving death threats.

Also of note was that the movie originally was given a Rated X rating (equivalent of our NC-17 of today) A couple scenes were toned down to get an R rating.

Also what is fun about the movie and the book is the slang the characters use. Burgess came up with a NadSat speak for Alex and his droogs. The film doesn't use the nadsat as heavily as the book.

Here is a link:

www.clockworkorange.com/nadsat.shtml

Here is a link to the trailer for the film:

www.geocities.com/malcolm...ailer.html


Some quotes:

Quote:
There was me that is Alex, and my three droogs, that is Pete, Georgie Boy and Dim. And we sat in the Korova Milk Bar trying to make up our rassoodocks what to do with the evening. The Korova Milk Bar sold milk plus - milk plus vellocet or synthemesc or drencrom which is what we were drinking. This would sharpen you up and make you ready for a bit of the old Ultra-Violence


Quote:
Alex:
One thing I could never stand is to see a filthy old drunky howling away at the filthy songs of his fathers and going Blerp Blerp in between as it might be a filthy old orchestra in his stinking rotten guts. I could never stand to see anyone like that whatever his age might be. But more especially when he was real old like this one was.



Quote:
Alex:
What you got back home little sister to play your fuzzy warbles on? I bet you've got little say pitiful portable picnic players. Come with Uncle and hear all proper. Hear angel trumpets and devil trombones. You are invited



Quote:
Alex:
You needn't take it any further sir. You've proved to me that all the Ultra-Violence and killing is wrong and terribly wrong. I've learned my lesson, sir. I see now what I've never seen before. I'm cured. Praise God

Dr. Brodsky:
Your not cured yet boy.

Alex:
But sirs, misses, I see that it's wrong. It's wrong because it's like against society. It's wrong because everybody has the right to live and be happy without being tolchoked and knifed.

Dr. Brodsky:
No, no, boy. You really must leave it to us. Now be cheerful about it. In less than a fortnight now, you'll be a free man



I also really like the music in the film. The title theme is kinda dark but its kinda cool too. I listen to it if I'm in one of those dark moods hehe..

Also there is "Singing in the Rain" (I grew up watching that movie because its one of my mom's favorites). This movie has ruined that song for me because Alex and his droogs sing it during one of the more disturbing violent scenes.

"Singing in the Rain" also plays during the film credits at the end of the film.

I have the movie on DVD because a good friend of mine bought it for me as a Christmas gift! I thought it was a strange Christmas gift ..

Also again I don't really recommend the film if you haven't already seen it.

msgt