A Clockwork Orange (1971)

In the future, a sadistic gang leader is imprisoned and volunteers for a conduct-aversion experiment, but it doesn't go as planned.

Director:

Stanley Kubrick

Writers:

Stanley Kubrick (screenplay), Anthony Burgess (novel)

Stars:

Malcolm McDowell, Patrick Magee, Michael Bates

Top Rated Movies #94 | Nominated for 4 Oscars. Another 9 wins & 19 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Malcolm McDowell	...	Alex
Patrick Magee	...	Mr. Alexander
Michael Bates	...	Chief Guard
Warren Clarke	...	Dim
John Clive	...	Stage Actor
Adrienne Corri	...	Mrs. Alexander
Carl Duering	...	Dr. Brodsky
Paul Farrell	...	Tramp
Clive Francis	...	Lodger
Michael Gover	...	Prison Governor
Miriam Karlin	...	Catlady
James Marcus	...	Georgie
Aubrey Morris	...	Deltoid
Godfrey Quigley	...	Prison Chaplain
Sheila Raynor	...	Mum

Storyline

Protagonist Alex DeLarge is an "ultraviolent" youth in futuristic Britain. As with all luck, his eventually runs out and he's arrested and convicted of murder and rape. While in prison, Alex learns of an experimental program in which convicts are programmed to detest violence. If he goes through the program, his sentence will be reduced and he will be back on the streets sooner than expected. But Alex's ordeals are far from over once he hits the mean streets of Britain that he had a hand in creating.

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Plot Keywords:

gang | sexual assault | female full frontal nudity | dystopia | forced to watch rape | 

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Taglines:

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

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Genres:

Crime | Drama | Sci-Fi

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Certificate:

R

Details

Country:

UK USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

2 February 1972 (USA)

Also Known As:

Stanley Kubrick's A Clockwork Orange

Filming Locations:

Pinewood Studios, Iver Heath, Buckinghamshire, England, UK

Box Office

Budget:

$2,200,000 (estimated)

Gross USA:

$26,589,355

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$26,896,193

Company Credits

Production Co:

Warner Bros., Polaris Productions, Hawk Films

Technical Specs

Runtime:

136 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital (re-issue) Mono

Color:

Black and White Color (Warnercolor) (uncredited)

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The plot of Rossini's "La Gazza Ladra". which is tapped several times for background music, involves a character closely resembling Deltoid --- Gottardo, the petty official whose lustful advances are rebuffed by the opera's young protagonist. The snippets of the score Kubrick chooses to incorporate feature motifs that are heard when the opera protagonist is visited by Gottardo while in custody awaiting trial after being accused of a serious crime. One such snippet plays just before the scene in which Deltoid confronts Alex at the police station.

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Goofs

In the marina scene, George is seen wearing his hat as he gets up in the shot of Dim falling into the water. Moments later as Alex is cutting Dim's hand, George is doubled over in the background without his hat. As Dim falls backward in recoil from the cut, George is seen in the same position with his hat on.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Alex: There was me, that is Alex, and my three droogs, that is Pete, Georgie, and Dim, and we sat in the Korova Milkbar trying to make up our rassoodocks what to do with the evening. The Korova milkbar 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.

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Crazy Credits

There are no opening credits after the title, which is followed by the opening shot of Alex the Droog. Although it is now commonplace for major films to not have opening credits, in 1971 it was considered rather unusual and was considered a trademark of director Stanley Kubrick.

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Alternate Versions

The home video version originally released in Brazil lacks the religious service in prison. This scene is only available in the recently released Stanley Kubrick Collection DVD/VHS versions.

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Connections

Referenced in Queer Duck: The Movie (2006)

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Soundtracks

Pomp and Circumstance Marches No.1 and 4
by Edward Elgar
Conducted by Marcus Dods

User Reviews

Great Piece of Art

I would say that the movie is really a gem of an art piece. The use of excellent imagery coupled with pretty out-of-the-place background score tells us about the uniqueness of this movie. Stanley Kubrick has really applied a lot of thought into this.

The director wants the audience to feel something as bad not because he is showing it as bad but because it really is bad. The background music accompanying the ultra violent scenes is comical, and not dramatic or anything else that is commonly associated with such scenes. This gives the viewer an opportunity to feel the bitterness not because the music hints so but because he himself feels so. Viewer's emotions should arise irrespective of what the director is trying to show, and this is one of the greatest successes of the movie.

Another glorifying feature is the central idea of the movie. If a human is striped of the choice to choose from good and evil, he no longer remains a human, he becomes a clockwork. When Alex is brain-washed and "programmed" to choose only good, he wasn't accepted by the society and this shows the irony in the objectives of the British Government. The word Orange from the title presumably comes from the word "Ourange" that loosely means man. And hence the title is so appropriate to the movie.

The artificiality in dialogues and sets give the movie a unique feature and enhance the grip on it. This also means that the viewer has to get more involved. This is definitely one of the best technically shot movies, another masterpiece of Kubrick like the Space Oddessey.

For the uninitiated, set in near future Britain, the movie shows Malcom MacDowell as the head of a group of youngsters involved in sexual violence. Turn of the events leave the protagonist in the hands of the police. Worried by the growing number of prisoners the British Government devises a method of "programming" them so that they always choose the good. Alex is chosen as one of those on which the new system is to be tested. The rest unfolds as a saga of the very human characteristic.

Lastly, I would like to say that you may be compelled to leave the movie in between, but if you are watching it for art and cinematic experience, I recommend you to sit through.