So I saw A Clockwork Orange for the first time this weekend. (1 Viewer)

[Joe Szott]

Seth Paxton - your first post is the best summation of this movie I've ever read. Bravo! I guess it is to be suspected from your signature pic...

 

[MatthewLouwrens]

So can I. And I wholeheartedly believe that that Anthony Burgess's novel should not have been cut down by that last chapter because it was his artistic expression and should not have been interfered with like that.

But one can disagree with the artistic decisions Burgess made, and that's what I'm doing. As Kevin said, without that final chapter, the story is not just a celebration of violence as Burgess believed, but instead comes across as a consideration of the dangers of responding to social issues with the cure that is as bad as the disease. To me, that is one reason why the film is more effective than the book.

 

[Seth Paxton]

Thanks for the kind words. Of course the sig is just one of set of revolving sigs I use combining film caps and song lyrics that seem to match in a way I enjoy. CO is not a top 10 film for me, though it might be my 2nd fav Kubrick film (behind 2001 which is #1 for me with Ben-Hur just behind it).

One thing I love most of all about CO is that visual style I mentioned. It features the super wide lens shot used in tunnel-like settings (such as Alex walking in the record store, seen in many other Kubricks like the end/most of The Shining). It features his (apparently) favorite look of the telescopic lens zooming in from a great distance to flatten out the image dramatically (see the close-ups in the war room in Dr. S or of Mason in the bathtub in Lolita, soldiers marching in Barry L). And plenty of tracking (later steadycam) shots like following Alex as he walks back through his ghetto neighborhood (see the charge led by Douglas in Paths of Glory).

CO sits at a perfect transition point for Kubrick's visuals, at the edge of B&W and color eras, between the very wide composition of 2001 and the boxier (and debated) framing of his later films (plus his experimental Dr. S varied framing), between the more static early years with lots of photographic type framing and the super-aggressive following/leading tracking that the steadycam brought on in Shining.


While we are on the subject, my favorite scene (by visual look) is when Alex lets loose on the droogs to put them back in line. I'm sure the slo-mo is part of why it is so appealing, but it's also the framing and visual look of the various shots. The camera angle looking down at them as the try to fall into and try to climb out of the water for example.

It just looks really good.

Right right?

 

[Haggai]

Right right! My favorite scene visually is probably the lead-up to the fight with Billy Boy and his gang, especially the shot where Alex and the droogs step out of the shadows and into the light. Ho, ho, ho!

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

I saw this film on campus a few weeks ago. The thing that struck me the most about it was how... alive it was. Every other Kurbick film I've seen has been almost antiseptic.

 

[Brent Hutto]

It's been decades since I watched the movie but I don't recall at any point finding myself rooting for or identifying with Alex. I just accepted the fact early on that he was a monster and never found myself in any conflict concerning my attitude toward the character. Yes, he was horribly tormented by the State and by the revenge of his victims but he seemed like a tormented monster, nonetheless.

Oh well, wouldn't be the first movie where I've totally failed to miss the point...

 

[Joe Szott]

Visually for me, the theater scene is just the king of gut shots in CO. I can't even remember how he filmed it, but the image of Alex with his "glassies" propped open while straight-jacketed into a seat and forced to obey is just too damn much. My nightmares don't usually get that bad (or as vivid.) By far, it's the part of CO that I remember first when I think of the film.

EDIT: Which is funny because when I had PRK laser surgery it was an errily similar setup. They didn't play any of the ol' Ludwig Van for me, but I was propped open, drugged up, and VERY uncomfortable during the procedure.

 

[L. Anton Dencklau]

..

 

[MatthewLouwrens]

I came across this the other day, and I thought it might interest people.

From The Kubrick FAQ at an excellent Kubrick resource site.

 

[Kevin M]

And I agree with Mr. Kubrick 100%. I understand the chapter, I just...well, Kubrick put it into words quite well.

 

[Dennis Nicholls]

And there has been a droogie sighting in Pennsylvania:

http://www.philly.com/mld/inquirer/n...0043874.htm?1c

"Going blerb blerb blerb like a whole orchestra in his stinking rotten guts."