Shilarny, vaysay, droogs, what on earth is happening in the film Clockwork Orange?

A Clockwork Orange is a dystopian crime film directed by Stanley Kubrik that critiques juvenile detention centers and youth crime in England in the 1960-1970s.

A Clockwork Orange is one of the rare cases that I believe the film is better than its novel counterpart.

The film is about a preteen named Alex; he is the leader of a street gang. They speak in slang called “Nadsat”, a combination of Russian, English, and Cockney slang. This is often hard to understand but adds an emersion to the film that is hard to parallel.

At the beginning of this film, Alex is a complete delinquent. He and his friends run about the town; engaging in violent crimes such as gang wars, rape, and public indecency.

Alex continues to commit a litany of crimes until a murder goes awry and he is caught by the police.

Alex is sentenced to 14 years in prison, but he is presented with an opportunity.

Alex is said to be one of the worst criminals that they have in the detention center, so they desire to experiment on him, attempting to cure him of his mental illness.

This experiment is brutal and does not go as planned for Alex.

He is cured of all of his ailments. Violence, Beethoven, and sex make Alex violently ill, so he will surely be unable to continue to do the crimes he committed in the past.

After Alex is tossed back into the real world, the world does not accept him. He is beaten and spat upon by the people he abused, even his friends and family.

Alex was beaten so badly that he was forced to seek refuge from a man he had beaten before. The man isn’t aware that Alex was the same person who had paralyzed him and murdered his wife.

The man then slowly begins to realize that Alex is the man who had committed these crimes and plots his revenge.

The man had read about the experiments done on Alex in the newspaper and decided to lock Alex in a room and make him violently ill. Alex becomes so ill, that in order to end his suffering he leaps out the window, killing himself, silencing his perpetual pain and guilt.

Alex then wakes up in a hospital bed with a warm breakfast. They run the same diagnostics on Alex to see if he is still disgusted by violence, sex, and Beethoven. He tricks them into thinking he is when he is not.

The movie ends with Alex’s final line “I am finally cured”, while Beethoven serenades the audience as he envisions himself wrestling a naked woman.

This film is fantastic. My only gripe with the picture is the gruesome scenes of Alex and his gang. If you can get past these scenes, or fast-forward through them, you can appreciate the intriguing stance Kubrik takes with the directing of this film.

From the story itself to the bigger picture on the detrimental effects of the juvenile system, to the concerning rise in crime rate within the youth, A Clockwork Orange is a fantastic film!