Little did I know that in a few years time I would see the film again, and was to fall completely in love with it. At 16 I was no longer simply searching in vain to be shocked. I realised that in today’s culture we are simply spoilt for choice in the ways of sex, drugs and violence on screen. We only have to consider Quentin Tarantino’s gems Pulp Fiction and Reservoir Dogs to see these so-called taboo’s in their abundance. Not proudly, it had become clear that even at 12 I had been invincible. Now I was ready to see the film for what it really was.
Stumbling luckily this time on a late night channel 4 showing, instantly I was captivated and no longer unnecessarily confused. I could feel the strength of the opening images, and the wonderful originality of Kubrick’s direction. The opening scene consists of an abrupt, startling shot of Alex’s infamous snarl close-up, then simply the camera shifting slowly backwards in an almost hypnotic fashion, revealing the droogs and the rest of the futuristic “Korova Milk Bar” surrounding him, until it reaches a stop at the other side of the room. In this scene a young Malcolm Macdowell, who gives his defining performance and is simply glorious as Alex, is literally at the centre of everything, surely a symbol of his dominance over the group. The chilling villainous voice of our narrator sets the scene in the simplest possible ways, “there was me; that is Alex, and my 3 droogs; that is Pete, Georgey and Dim.” The camera and background music does the rest. One scene, and such instant impact.
By this time the bold and unnerving theme music has set the tone of the all-Classical soundtrack, which varies from light and happy sounding arrangements, seeming amusingly ironic during a scene where the droogs fight a bloody battle with a rival gang, to the heavy sinister works of Beethoven, for which Alex has a particular preference in an interesting sub-plot to the film. Interestingly, one of the main reasons why the film was banned is because of the music. Whilst I appreciate that the world’s most treasured classical works simply could not be played to scenes of rape and thuggery unnoticed, I am of the opinion that at times Alex’s erratic and utterly demonic behaviour could not be supported better than by such a serious and romantic Composer as Beethoven. After all, this is why Alex has such a fondness for “Ludwig Van,” as listening to “the Ninth” fills his head with “such lovely pictures”, which we see at first hand to be terrifying death and destruction. Also it is the music and the constant bright and colourful imagery that make the production as much a piece of art as it is a film. That it was made in 1971 is almost unbelievable. As with other great futuristic satires such as George Orwell’s novel “Nineteen Eighty Four”, there is not a single little detail that could give the time period away. As a result the film could quite conceivably be portraying a time period far beyond ours, even 30 years after the film was made.
So what had I really missed the first time? What do so many others still fail to see in A Clockwork Orange? Another part of the film that angered millions was the ending. How can a film that is said to be strictly “not glorifying” the actions of monsters such as Alex, end with him miraculously cured of his brainwashing “Ludovico” treatment and back to his old, brutish and hedonistic self? The REAL beauty of this film to me, is in the question, what are we to truly think of Alex? In a way like the Government eventually does to him, he is conditioning us throughout his narrative to befriend him. Through numerous rhetorical devices he addresses us with such familiarity as “oh my dear brothers,” and later in times of hardship, “oh my brothers and only friends”. How can one help but feel at least an ounce of sympathy, as Alex leaves jail after the treatment and is no longer welcome in his home, shortly after being cruelly battered by two of the droogs who are now Policemen. Is it fair? Is it fair also, that the Government should wipe all unacceptable temptation from his mind, or should he still possess the choice to do so himself? We are forced to ask such important questions of morality throughout, and it is this that was so unfairly over-looked by many.
The film is about free-will versus state control. Its power to excite and disturb are undiminished, and it gives a warning about the future on two levels. On the one hand, we have the society “without law and order” as said by Alex’s first victim, a society lacking control. On the other, there is the complete opposite, equally frightening, the warning about the state’s encroaching hold over the individual. Both are more relevant today than ever.
