There have been many words that have been used to describe Stanley Kubrick’s 1971 study of youth gone wild in a dystopian future, A CLOCKWORK ORANGE. Terms like Sardonic, Violent, Brilliant, Political, Metaphorical, Visionary, Comic, Bizarre and Satire have all been tacked onto this piece.
And, surprisingly, I would add one more - boring.
Based on Anthony Burgess’ 1962 black comedy novel, A CLOCKWORK ORANGE tells the tale of an “Ultra-Violent” youth in a Britain of the not-too-distant future (at least, not-too-distant future of 1960’s/early 1970’s Britain) who is arrested and convicted of violent crimes and then is rehabilitated and returned to society.
Deemed “unfilmable”, Kubrick’s funny bone was tickled by the VERY dark comedy in the novel and put his considerable visionary style to bear to bring this work to film. It is split into 3 parts - each one working just a little less than the part before it.
The first 1/3 of the film follows Alex “DeLarge” (Malcolm McDowell) and his band of “Droogs” as they flaunt societal norms (and the law) while creating havoc in the form of violent crimes (and violent they are). This is the most successful part of the movie for Kubrick sets the table during this part to visually set the style of the story - and this visionary style is STUNNING (as one has come to expect from Kubrick) setting the world that Alex and his Droogs inhabit in an environment that is at the same time familiar and foreign. Kubrick was a former photographer and his photographic sense is in high form in the cinematography and scenic set-ups that this auteur Director lays on the audience. He also uses the ultraviolence (and there is ultraviolence to be sure) to shock and stun the audience and he succeeds in that goal easily.
All of this is abetted by McDowell’s powerhouse performance as Alex. He inhabits the modernistic, made-up language of the youth of this film much like the Shakespearean actor that he is getting his mouth around Shakespeare. The oddball words and phrasing seem quite natural coming out of McDowell’s mouth and he gives the impression that he has been speaking this way for years. There is a charm and joi de vivre that McDowell brings to Alex that draws the audience in all while his eyes give off a vibe of extreme danger and violence. McDowell is perfectly cast in this role…a role that he would have trouble shaking for the rest of his career.
The 2nd part of the film is Alex’s “rehabilitation” whilst in prison. It is during this part that we see Alex’s cunning and intelligence (again, through a terrific performance by McDowell) as he plays along with the establishment in order to accomplish his goal of getting out of prison as quickly as possible. Unfortunately for this part, the “establishment” characters are pretty one-dimensional and quite clearly are an inspiration for British political humor for some time to come.
This, then, leads us to the least successful portion of A CLOCKWORK ORANGE - the 3rd act where Alex is “rehabilitated” and is returned to society where he encounters quite a few of the inhabitants of the first part of this film but this time the tables are turned and Alex is the victim of ultra-violent acts of the others. By necessity, the rehabilitation that Alex experiences during the 2nd part of the film neuters his character and, unfortunately, it also neuters the energy and the dysptopianism that were a strength of the first two parts of the movie and this is where the film went from interesting to somewhat boring with scenes going on just a little too long with an ending that lands with a thud.
It also doesn’t help things that McDowell’s character and characterization of Alex is about 3 levels above anything else anyone else is doing. The other characters are not interesting at all and they all serve as bit players reacting to Alex’s largesse.
Besides McDowell’s performance and the stunning visuals, one also has to admire the music used in this film to help support the story on the screen. Once again (like in 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY), Kubrick eschews a traditional musical score for classical music and standards and they work quite well - especially his use of Beethoven throughout the film and Alex’s singing of the Gene Kelly classic “Singin’ In The Rain” during one of his ultra-violent adventures in the beginning.
Ultimately, the poor 3rd act (and dud of an ending) tarnish what up until then is an interesting film that starts with an ultra-violent beginning that uses that violence for a purpose that, then, upped the expectation of the rest of the film that it just could not realize.
Letter Grade: B+
7 1/2 stars (out of 10) and you can take that to theBank (ofMarquis)
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