Have a viddy at this! Kubrick dystopian masterpiece is all nice and shiny and no appy polly loggy. Alex DeLarge and his “droogs”, Georgie, Dim and Pete spend their time either spilling vino with “ultra-violence” or drinking in the milk bars. They also on the occasion drive in the country and viddy some targets. These are often people living outsider of the city alone and snug like. F. Alexander is one target and they beat him ending up crippling him for life. Alex then has a little of the old in and out with his wife. Will they ever be stopped.
Violence between youths, cultures of disenfranchisement, societal breakdown and massive economic upheaval were major topics of the 1970s and in truth still is very relevant today. Kubrick choose a text that was pivotal to exploring the rise and manifestation of the Teddy boys of the 50s. Its relevance at the time of release was potent and explosive. It was effectively banned in the UK (by Kubrick not the BBFC) which is important because it actually hit such a nerve of the discord in the fragmenting youth that pressure groups went mad.
A Clockwork Orange is a wonderful film but then you probably know this. It is also an engaging examination of societal breakdown and how that is often countered by excessive policing, experimentation and exploitation. Kubrick was skilled at getting to a point by aggravating another. You see within the film is a examination of violence but really its a film about science and nature. These are key to the idea of what we are and what directs us. Coming directly back to that idea of the Teddy Boys and why they do what they do.
We have in the set a duplication of the previous releases of the film all bundled up to make a whole. Its box is lovely, its extras are good enough to seek out and the transfers are delightful.
Malcolm McDowell Looks Back
Turning like Clockwork Considers the Film’s Ultraviolence and Its Cultural Impact
Commentary by Malcolm McDowell and Historian Nick Redman
Channel Four Documentary Still Tickin’: The Return of Clockwork Orange
Featurette Great Bolshy Yarblockos!: Making A Clockwork Orange
Stanley Kubrick: A Life in Pictures – A Film by Jan Harlan
Edited by Melanie Viner Cuneo Narrated by Tom Cruise
O Lucky Malcolm! Feature-Length Career Profile of Malcolm McDowell Produced and Directed by Jan Harlan, Edited by Katia De Vidas.
Theatrical Trailer
