A Clockwork Orange

Categories: Entertainment | Movies | Crime Films | Drama Films | 1970s Films

  • A Clockwork Orange is Stanley Kubrick's 1971 adaptation of Anthony Burgess' novel of the same name. Nominated for the 1971 Academy Award for Best Picture, it lost to The French Connection.

  • Summary

    In the film, as in the book, Alex de Large, played by British actor Malcolm McDowell, engages in a spree of "ultra-violence" with his friends (called in the film's future hybrid language "Nasdat", "droogs"). Alex and his droogs live in a futuristic and permanently economically depressed England and participate in a series of nihilistic acts of sex and violence. At various points in the film, Alex and/or his friends engage in a threesome, attempt to rape a girl on the street, brutally attack a homeless man, rapes the wife of a writer, and finally, kills a woman during a home invasion with a heavy, phallic sculpture. Alex is arrested and convicted for the last crime and in return for a reduction in his 14-year sentence, is required to undergo a controversial behavioral therapy meant to cure him of his antisocial and psychotic tendencies.

  • Controversy

    A Clockwork Orange was a controversial film even before its release. Originally rated X in the United States by the MPAA, Kubrick removed and toned down footage of sex and violence for its theatrical release. However, this footage has since been restored in the home video and DVD versions. The film was believed to have inspired copycat crimes in both Britain and the United States, and the film remains a cult classic to this day. Several songs that appear in A Clockwork Orange have become permanently associated with the film, including "Singin' in the Rain", the "William Tell Overture", and Beethoven's Ninth Symphony.

  • New Text Section

    A Clockwork Orange (1971) is producer-director-screenwriter Stanley Kubrick's randomly ultra-violent, over-indulgent, graphically-stylized film of the near future. It was a terrifying, gaudy film adaptation of Anthony Burgess' 1962 satiric, futuristic novel of the same name. This was Kubrick's ninth feature film, appearing between 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968) and Barry Lyndon (1975).

    The luridly-colorful set designs by John Barry, costume design by Milena Canonero, the synthesized electronic score by Wendy Carlos [sometimes credited as Walter Carlos - her birth name until undergoing a sex-change operation in 1972 to became Wendy], the colorful and innovative cinematography by John Alcott, and the hybrid, jargonistic, pun-filled language of Burgess' novel (called Nadsat - an onomatopoetic, expressive combination of English, Russian, and slang), produce a striking, unforgettable film. Some words are decipherable in their contextual use, or as anglicized, portmanteau, rhymed, or clever transformations or amputations of words. Originally, the rock group The Rolling Stones were considered for the main cast roles of Alex and his droogs, until Kubrick joined the production.

    The controversial film's title and other names in the film have meaning. The title alludes to:

    •a clockwork (mechanical, artificial, robotic) human being (orange - similar to orang-utan, a hairy ape-like creature), and •the Cockney phrase from East London, "as queer as a clockwork orange" - indicating something bizarre internally, but appearing natural, human, and normal on the surface The film's poster and tagline advertised its themes of violence in a police state, teen delinquency, technological control, and dehumanization:

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

  • New Text Section

    A Clockwork Orange is a 1971 British darkly satirical science fiction film adaptation of Anthony Burgess's 1962 novel of the same name. The film concerns Alex DeLarge (Malcolm McDowell), a charismatic, psychopathic delinquent whose pleasures are classical music (especially Beethoven), rape, and ultra-violence. He leads a small gang of thugs (Pete, Georgie, and Dim), whom he calls his droogs (from the Russian друг, “friend”, “buddy”). The film tells the horrific crime spree of his gang, his capture, and attempted rehabilitation via a controversial psychological conditioning technique. Alex narrates most of the film in Nadsat, a fractured, contemporary adolescent argot comprising Slavic (especially Russian), English, and Cockney rhyming slang.

    This cinematic adaptation was produced, directed, and co-written by Stanley Kubrick. It features disturbing, violent images, to facilitate social commentary about psychiatry, youth gangs, and other contemporary social, political, and economic subjects in a dystopian, future Britain. A Clockwork Orange features a soundtrack comprising mostly classical music selections and Moog synthesizer compositions by Wendy Carlos. A notable exception is “Singin’ in the Rain”, chosen because it was a song whose lyrics actor Malcolm McDowell knew.[1] The now-iconic poster of A Clockwork Orange, and its images, were created by designer Bill Gold. The film also holds the record in the Guinness World Records for being the first movie in media history using the Dolby Sound system

Featured Mahalo Topics

About this page

  • Page Views
    0
What is this?

Page Manager

lviz_2007
M$0.00
What is this?
This page currently has no vertical manager.

Featured Pages

Contact Mahalo | Terms of Service | Privacy Policy | Advertisers | RSS for this page | CC License 2.0
©2007-2009 Mahalo.com Incorporated.
Powered By EdgeCast