“What does God want? Does God want goodness or the choice of goodness? Is a man who chooses the bad perhaps in some way better than a man who has the good imposed upon him?”
From the film “A Clockwork Orange”
’’Clockwork Orange’’ refers to someone who can only perform good or only perform evil. That means, he doesn’t have any free will and hence, cannot make choices. Since he cannot choose between good or evil actions, he is more or less a robot. The movie “A Clockwork Orange” based on Anthony Burgess’s novel with the same title addresses the need for the humans to make their own choices. This is considered to be a classic by many critics. Does it really deserve this praise..? Let us see...
The film traces the adventures of a young man, Alex who heads a teenaged gang of “droogs” – Georgie, Dim and Pete. They are mainly interested in rape and ultra-violence. While they go to school in the day, they indulge in these unruly activities in the night... When they are in a night club taking a break from their ultraviolent activities, a lady sings a bit from the Ninth Symphony composed by Ludvig Van Beethoven, who is Alex’s favorite too. Dim makes fun of the singer and the composer which angers Alex…They have a major argument and Alex (Malcolm McDowell) hurts Dim very badly to show that he is really the leader .George, Dim and Pete decide that they have had enough with Alex .They take revenge by hurting him on his head during their usual night adventure so that he could be easily caught by the police. Alex is convicted for the crime and is proved guilty. So he is sent to the prison. There, he comes to know of the Ludivico treatment technique by which one could get out of the prison in fifteen days. But then, this technique is new to the prison and has not yet been tried out. He convinces the people concerned and undergoes this treatment in Ludivico Medical Center. He is tied to a seat and is forced to watch films which depict ultra violence .Also, he is given injections so that he becomes conditioned in such a way that these images of violence create nausea in him. After the treatment, even if he wants to inflict violence on somebody , he cannot do it because the nausea that results because of his intention to hurt somebody prevents him. He is released from the prison and now he is a free man. When he comes back to his apartment, he realizes that he can no longer stay there because his parents had rented it to another guy .He is also ill-treated by his past victims whom he had hurt previously .The government who was responsible for this treatment is forced to “treat him “ back to his normal self because of the heavy opposition to this “inhumane” technique which prevents a human being from making his own choice to do good or evil ..The film ends with Alex shouting “ I was cured all right!” ..
The role of Alex played by Mc Dowell is very complex . He is an anti-hero no doubt , but in the second half when he is hurt by his victims, we do feel sorry for him. It is funny though that even though the technique prevents him from “doing” evil , it doesn’t prevent him from having evil thoughts. It is just that he is not able to translate that into action .Mc Dowell excels in this character .
James Marcus as Georgie , Warren Clarke as Dim and Michael Tarn as Pete are the “droogs” who desert their leader , Alex .They play their parts to perfection.Later, when Alex is released from the prison, he comes across Georgie and Pete .They would have joined the police force by now and they torture Alex .Alex , because of the treatment is unable to retaliate and hence had to be a dumb spectator to their antics. He later gets caught by the old man whom he had tortured .The old man takes advantage of the situation and invites some politicians who are from the opposition party. They torture Alex and force him to attempt suicide, thus embarrassing the government which had recommended this treatment..After these incidents, Alex becomes a tool for the government ..The government offers him a job and treats him back to his original “evil” self.
The film raises a lot of questions on many important topics. Even though it was made in 1972, these questions are very relevant even today. One might wonder why this film had to be so violent . In fact , the scenes that depict violence are so stylized that you initially wonder what the intentions of the director are ..But later as the film progresses, you realize that he wants to us to accept Alex as he ..He is an anti-hero and likes ultra violence and indulges in it without any regret or guilt for that matter. Even in prison, he pretends as if he is reading the Bible when in reality , he is in his own dream world …Kubrick doesn’t attribute any reason to this weird behavior but it is obvious to us that he is just a symbol for the decadence in the society. The film has a very predictable second half and an open ended climax.
’’ What are the main questions/issues raised in this film ?’’
The main theme is about free will. Each human is given free will to decide his course of action ..If he is deprived of free will , then he is deprived of almost everything and he becomes a robot ..The film shows the main character , Alex being deprived of his free will to do evil…Even though some might argue that it is for the good of the society, we see that it results in disastrous consequences ..He is not able to do what he wants to do! He becomes a puppet .The question is this : how then can evil are eradicated in the society ? How can a person who has done evil be punished such that he will repent for what he has done ?
’’Why is the violence stylized and very graphic in this film ? I heard that Kubrick had to make some alterations in order to release this film in 1973 ?’’
Yes…some scenes are very explicit and very graphic. Probably, the intention of the director is to make an impact on the viewers.. It does hurt the sensibilities of some people though. But then, the success of this film is mainly because of the shock value too .For example, Alex sings “Singing in the Rain” while hurting an old man and his wife in the scene when he barges into their house without their permission with his “droogs”.. It does add to the shock value in that scene and made it even more repulsive. I think this is one of the few films which are unabashedly straight on the face ..In fact , when “Singing in the Rain “ is played again in the end title , it reminds us of the horrible scene and evokes in us , a very mixed response ..It is a very apt choice because it gives us an idea of the effect , the Ludivico technique can have on us .
The climax is open ended ..What did he really want to say ?
This film makes fun of many things : politics , society , people etc. In the end , the same government which proposed this technique had to “treat him “ back to his normal self in order to remain in power. This makes fun of the current state of politics.. It also stresses the need for free will ..There is another interpretation to the meaning of “Clockwork Orange “. “Clockwork” indicates future and “ Orange” indicates caution ..This film can also be viewed as a caution for us about the necessity to focus on teen delinquency in the future ..
Overall , a great film with a unique look and a bitingly satirical tone!