I can totally get into Syd Barrett-era Pink Floyd, I’m really into the music Brian Wilson recorded when he mind was gone, thought “The Silmarillion” was a good book and I can sit and stare at those acid-trippy visualization tools in Windows Media Player all the livelong day. But even “A Clockwork Orange” is too weird for me. That’s not to say I can’t appreciate it because there is some real talent behind this movie, but I don’t know that I will ever watch it again.
It’s not that I don’t have the stomach for it, because I’ve watched “Faces of Death” on a loop several times in my life, though the excessive violence (so much so that it is even referred to in the narration as ‘The Ultra Violence’) is certainly not for the squeamish. But it just doesn’t sit right with me. Strange given that all the things that speak to my social conscience are there like anti-heroes and an Orwellian Big-Brother presence.
A large part of the dialogue comes in the form of narration from the film’s main protagonist (though this movie stretches that definition more liberally than I have ever seen) Alex (Malcolm McDowell). He walks us through a typical night in the lives of him and his teenage friends. The surrealism begins early as we see the gang in some sort of chic lounge/club surrounded by several seemingly elite, almost yuppie-like people. There are ceramic statues that look like they belong in some kind of Mod-Museum that dispense beverages and almost futuristic looking chairs, sofas and barstools.
There are two very different and very important pieces of deception going on in these early shots. First off the décor and the clothing Alex and his friends are in both have a very futuristic look about them and their jumpsuits look almost reminiscent of space-suits. Perhaps this is done to make the movie not appear to be dated but I am sure it is more to imply that the story is set in the future, but conceivably in the viewer’s lifetime; thus making the events that follow seem scarier given that they are not depicted as so far off we shouldn’t worry about them. Secondly, the gang being dressed in all white in a setting where nobody else is, and drinking a beverage that looks misleadingly like milk while everyone else is drinking alcohol makes them look like they might be the good-guys- the representation of purity and wholesomeness. Yeah, not so much…
The action soon takes a shocking and disturbing turn as the gang surrounds a homeless drunk. After a quick back-and-forth of taunting each other, the boys viciously beat him to a state that I was positive was death until the man resurfaces later in the film. The gratuitous violence does not end here. In what is a disgustingly beautiful sequence a different gang is seen tormenting and raping a woman. As she is whipped back and forth to the rhythm of the background music and stripped in perfect time it almost appears to be some sort of hybrid between ballet and modern dance; especially given the fact that the attack is clearly happening on some sort of stage. However, the unsettling truth is revealed as the camera pans back further and shows the theater is noticeably derelict. Alex and his cohorts burst in as if they are heroes, beating the other men into submission.
Their moment of redemption is short-lived however though, as they are shown speeding through the country back-roads and arriving at a remote but urbanized home. Feigning an accident the group convinces the woman who lives there to let them in. Once inside they proceed to beat her elderly husband and force him to watch them rape his wife- all choreographed in perfect time to Alex cheerfully belting out the song “Singin’ in the Rain.” This is another aspect of something unspeakably awful occurring to the strains of music that would normally lighten the mood of a film; however this movie uses music to put an exclamation point on the things that intensify it.
Perhaps the most revealing glimpses of Alex’s character come after he goes home for the night. While it is always assumed that he is younger, it is appalling to learn that he still lives at home and is still in school- more surprising though is how little influence his parents have over him. His room is full of bizarre things like a pet snake in a drawer, a creepy, dancing Jesus statue and a collection of mini Beethoven tapes (Beethoven is later revealed to be his favorite musician). The ambiguity of time is again explored in the house as well, as the architecture is very abstract but his parents are dressed in gaudy, dated late-60’s/early 70’s bright clothes. The contrast between them and Alex seems to illustrate that perhaps they represent a different era than him, or that the addition of color somehow implies more character or personality than Alex, who generally delivers all his lines very emotionless and drably.
While he is supposed to be in school Alex is shown instead hanging around a record store. He picks up a pair of girls, presumably sisters, and takes them back home for a three-way. For the first time in the movie the camera remains relatively still, which is ironic since the scene features non-stop motion. The filming style prior to this scene typically featured a lot of tracking shots and camera movement. The scene is sped up the same way a silent-era comedy film would be- possibly because this is strangely one of the most light-hearted parts of the film. “The William Tell Overture” plays and the scene is treated almost as an interlude. While it may be considered cutting-edge or ironic this scene is ultimately out of place and winds up making little sense. I assume it is meant to illustrate the power Alex has over regular people to help explain why his parents and friends let him abuse them so much, but it just doesn’t seem to fit in.
Despite Alex clearly being identified as the leader of the gang, there are several examples of dissention among the ranks that first surface when Alex bullies his cohorts at the bar, again when he thwarts an attempted uprising and finally when they convince him to attack a woman who lives alone on a health farm. The assault goes horribly awry and Alex winds up murdering the woman with a huge ceramic penis (an action which lends itself to an entirely different level of interpretation; my personal theory is that it represents a culmination of Alex’s crimes all in one). The gang puts the exclamation point on their overthrowing of Alex by smashing him in the face with a bottle and leaving him for the police.
” I hope to God it'll torture you to madness!” (Probation Officer Deltoid, “A Clockwork Orange”)
The extended middle section of the film makes the most bold and ominous statements. Alex is systematically stripped of his identity and dignity, but still shows little remorse for his wrongdoings. It isn’t until he elects to be used as a guinea pig for an experimental Government conceived procedure that involves rehabilitation through visual and auditory association. He is strapped to a chair, has his eyes pried open and is forced to watch footage of several crimes similar to those he has committed as well as even more horrific atrocities including torture and genocide. All the visuals are drowned out by Beethoven’s 9th Symphony to create an aversion with the music and Alex, not unlike a reverse Pavlov’s Dog’s scenario. The therapy sessions are observed by various medical professionals and government employees, illustrating just how condoned this abhorrent form of conditioning is.
Once he is declared “cured” Alex is re-released into society. He is docile, submissive and practically catatonic. It seems as though there is some sort of a “what goes around comes around” theme to the film as we see Alex kicked out by his parents, beaten by a mob of homeless men led by the vagrant he almost killed at the beginning of the movie and even meets up with his old gang members who are now police officers who also beat him senseless. The reintroduction of the gang members/cops seems to comment more on their mental weakness rather than seeing Alex get his comeuppance as they are again shown as identityless drones, only taking orders from someone different, meanwhile we are supposed to feel sorry for Alex.
Alex again crosses paths with someone he has wronged when he stumbles to the home of the man he beat whose wife he raped earlier in the movie. Several revelations about the man are made at once; he has been left paralyzed from his injuries, his wife died a short time after the attack and he is an outspoken liberal activist. The most understated but telling revelation though is the fact that his name is Mr. Alexander. This not only has so many connotations of political activism (King Alexander of Russia) and the ability to be methodically violent (Alexander the Great) but even more to the point it draws a direct parallel between Alex and Mr. Alexander. And as we soon find out, he is capable of the same type of sadism as Alex- in fact he turns out to be quite the hypocrite. Once he discovers that Alex is his old assailant he tortures him with Beethoven’s 9th Symphony because he knows all about the form of rehabilitation he has undergone as he is an outspoken opponent of it, but soon exploits it himself to punish Alex.
After a failed suicide attempt (driven to madness by the punishment by Mr. Alexander) leaves him in a full-body cast, Alex becomes a poster child for the evils of the therapy and the government in general. In an effort to perform some damage control the Minister of the Interior arrives at the hospital to offer Alex a high-paying government job and basically sweet talk him into not suing them for his condition. As the film ends we see that Alex has completely recovered from the aversion therapy as he sadistically smiles at the camera. Not only does this suggest that the effects of such a treatment method carry the threat of negative backlash but also implies that just about anyone no matter how morally corrupt can attain a position of power and influence.
Yes “A Clockwork Orange” is a well made movie; there are numerous examples of symbolism and hidden meaning. It is technically sound with some incredible motion and tracking shots and excellent uses of jump cuts during the aversion therapy sequence. It is evident that a great deal of thought was put into every single aspect of the film and the depth of the satire and commentary would definitely be lost on many casual viewers. However, just because I get it doesn’t mean I enjoy it- though I can appreciate it on artistic merit. In other words, content-wise; wow. Entertainment-wise; meh.
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