Movie Review: A Clockwork Orange
Ever since Anthony Burgess wrote the original novel and Stanley Kubrick later filmed his own version, the story of A Clockwork Orange has created much debate within society. A Clockwork Orange is the story of Alex and his journey through a futuristic England, where he terrorizes anyone he can, including his own friends but still enjoys the simple things in life, like Beethoven’s music. Some feel that the violence depicted in the movie is senseless and degrading with no morals or meaning. However, the violence has a point; the story reflects many of society’s beliefs about evil, freedom of choice, and youthful rebellion.
“There was me, that is Alex, and my three droogs, that is Pete, Georgie, and Dim…” (Kubrick, 1971). The story of A Clockwork Orange is presented from the point of view of the main character, Alex, aged fifteen at the start of the story. Alex narrates the story, allowing the viewer to learn more about his inner thoughts and fantasies as the movie progresses. Because of this style of presentation, the movie feels like a diary of Alex’s misdeeds and twisted fantasies. Allowing Alex to narrate and tell the story from his point of view creates a link with the viewer; the viewer, although shocked at the violent acts Alex commits also feels empathy with the character at certain points; after his release from prison, Alex has went from the victimizer to the victim.
Stanley Kubrick’s intention was to portray a movie in which the main character proves that inherent bad behavior cannot be falsely rehabilitated and that by taking away the ability to make a choice between evil and good, creates a “creature incapable of moral choice” (Kubrick, 1971), a human on the outside, but mechanical inside, hence the title about a clockwork (mechanical) orange (human). Someone that commits evil acts of their own free will is more human than someone that cannot make their own decisions; if you remove their ability to make decisions freely they are reduced to animalistic instincts. Alex is not fully rehabilitated after his treatment; he still wants to commit acts of violence but cannot because it makes him physically ill. After recovering from his suicide attempt, not even the treatment works and Alex is free to continue on as he always has.
An unintentional side effect of the movie is that the character of Alex has become a sort of anti-hero and a pop-culture icon. The audience empathizes with the character unintentionally, pitying Alex after he is kicked out of his home and beaten by the police that were once his friends. Multiple bands have written songs related to A Clockwork Orange, such as Rob Zombie’s “Never Gonna Stop”, as well as dressing as the characters portrayed in the movie. Even Bart Simpson has dressed as the character on The Simpsons.
A Clockwork Orange’s story is divided into three sections: the beginning, with Alex committing his violent acts; the middle, where Alex spends his time in jail and undergoes the Ludovico treatment; and ending with Alex’s release, suicide attempt, and the reversal of his cure. Various scenes in the movie are essential to the plot and the underlying morals. The earliest important scene is the introduction of Alex and the following scenes of Alex and his ‘droogs’ beating an old drunkard and then getting into a violent brawl with a rival gang for no reason. These beginning scenes set the tone for the movie. Another important scene to the movie is the rape of the writer’s wife at ‘HOME’ while Alex glibly sings “Singing in the Rain” during the couple’s beating. This scene shows how little Alex is affected by the violent acts that he commits. The scene in which Alex is made to ‘perform’ for an audience, showing off the cure is also crucial to the story because it show how far the treatment has taken Alex and contains the speech by the prison chaplain, objecting to the morality of the treatment.
The idea of culturalism, the study of popular culture that emphasizes human agency, or “the active production of culture, rather than its passive consumption” (Storey, 2009) meaning that individuals have their own ability to make choices and change society by their own behavior is reflected in A Clockwork Orange. After going through the Ludovico treatment, Alex can no longer take an active part in society, governed by his own choices because his behaviors are forced onto him now that he no longer has free will to decide. Within the realm of culturalism, A Clockwork Orange reflect multiple points of Hall and Whannel’s studies of youth, Hoggart’s discussion of youth and ‘milk bars,’ and a general culture in decline, where youth run wild and the police are often able to do little to prevent it.
Alex and his droogs differ from the adults in the story though their behaviors, style of dress, and use of ‘Nadsat’ – a language made up from a mix of Russian, Cockney, baby talk and gibberish. This a reflection of Hall and Whannel’s studies concerning popular culture and deciding that the youth culture should be looked at separately from the adults culture; the youth purposely do and invent things to distance themselves from the older generation. The language of ‘Nadsat’ spoken throughtout the film allows Alex and his droogs to talk in a way that the adults do not understand. Hall and Whannel describe ways of dressing as a way of expressing “a strong current of social nonconformity and rebelliousness” (Storey, 2009); Alex’s gang’s form of dress sets them apart from adults, as well as from other gangs and is just another form of rebellion against the norm
An interesting echo of Richard Hoggart’s discussion about young boys, dressed in their own fashions and hanging around the “new milk bars” (Storey, 2009) in A Clockwork Orange is that Alex and his droogs visit the Korova Milk Bar often, where they lounge about listening to music, plotting, and drinking milk plus (milk with added drugs)(Kubrick, 1971). Hoggart says, “they have no responsibilities, and little sense of responsibilities, to themselves or to others” (Storey, 2009). This statement fits Alex and his droogs perfectly: they are not held to any type of responsibility and Alex is not forced to attend school or do anything other than what pleases him.
Kubrick’s social commentary throughout the film about the various topics is what keeps the film together and allowed critics to get past the violence. Alex and his droogs are a representation of youthful rebellion, full of aimless decisions and random brutality and their distinction from the adult culture by way of dress and language allow them to remain a mystery to most adults. After Alex’s arrest and treatment, the audience is forced to question whether it is better to allow someone the ability to do evil and have a choice or to remove their ability to choose so that they are not a threat to society. Another thought is whether the government should take such involvement in a person’s free will and whether such extreme measures are worth it; after all, Alex’s rehabilitation fails and all of the treatments were for nothing.
Another film reflecting youth in revolt is the film Trainspotting. While Trainspotting is more based on the drug world and less so on the ability to make moral choices, it is also a reflection of youth in rebellion. The main characters in Trainspotting act out their rebellion in ways that are similar to A Clockwork Orange, such as violent behaviors and drug use, they differ because their drug use is more hardcore and they are only made unable to make proper decisions because of addictions, not experimental techniques.
The novel Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut is similar to A Clockwork Orange in that they are both about free will. Vonnegut’s main character, Billy Pilgrim, has no free will in his life because he is forced to re-live various events in his life at random, never knowing what event will come next. The entire story is based off the idea that humanity has no free will and that they only do what they do because they have to, not because they want to.
The film A Clockwork Orange is reflection of societal concerns that are still relevant today. Stanley Kubrick approached these concerns from an artistic point, creating a character that the viewer feels disgust but also pity towards as the story progresses. Kubrick filmed the story with a set vision of what themes he wanted to portray, how he wanted to portray them, and how these themes mirror the decline of popular culture, an interesting point because some critics felt that the movie A Clockwork Orange was in itself part of the cultural decline.
References
Kubrick, S. (Director) (1971). A clockwork orange [DVD]. (Kubrick, 1971)
Storey, J. (2009). Cultural Theory and Popular Culture: An Introduction (5th ed). London: Pearson.
