{"id":17564,"date":"2012-02-09T11:59:36","date_gmt":"2012-02-09T19:59:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/studentfilmreviews.org\/?p=17564"},"modified":"2012-02-09T12:01:47","modified_gmt":"2012-02-09T20:01:47","slug":"a-clockwork-orange-stanley-kubrick-1971-ukusa","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/studentfilmreviews.org\/?p=17564","title":{"rendered":"A Clockwork Orange (Stanley Kubrick, 1971): UK\/USA"},"content":{"rendered":"

Reviewed by Tyler Rowland<\/a> at Santa Barbara Film Festival 2012<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Originally an Anthony Burgess novella, this classic from renowned auteur Stanley Kubrick (Spartacus, The Shining<\/em>) has received a notorious reputation for its depiction of violence by those who oppose it, but it is also recognized for its brilliant use of cinematic technique for those who praise it. \u00a0Kubrick even pulled it from shelves after violent acts were committed in the name of the film. \u00a0The following of Clockwork<\/em>\u00a0is limited to basically two groups of people: those who enjoy the “ultraviolet” aspect and those who appreciate the value of brilliant cinema. \u00a0While the violence only encompasses about ten minutes of the movie, Kubrick’s genius is realized from beginning to end. \u00a0To fans, this film is the highlight of Malcolm McDowell’s career, but to the internationally recognized actor, consideration should be given to his work in \u00a0If…\u00a0<\/em>and\u00a0O, Lucky Man<\/em>. \u00a0Homage is paid to\u00a0Clockwork<\/em>\u00a0in more recent material such as Quentin Tarantino’s\u00a0Reservoir Dogs<\/em>\u00a0and even on multiple episodes of\u00a0The Simpsons<\/em>. \u00a0McDowell has seen recent successes from long time fan Rob Zombie, who revisits John Carpenter’s\u00a0Halloween<\/em>\u00a0and utilizes McDowell in the role of Dr. Samuel Loomis. \u00a0McDowell also has given his voice to\u00a0South Park<\/em>\u00a0for the character of Pip.<\/p>\n

The film opens up with a close up of the lead character Alex, which in itself is an intriguing. \u00a0The camera slowly pans out, revealing oddly dressed characters and an extravagantly designed set. \u00a0We follow Alexander DeLarge (Malcolm McDowell) as he leads his gang of droogs through multiple acts of debauchery with no remorse. \u00a0This includes portraying a rape scene as no more than just “a little bit of the old in, out”, while performing a delightful rendition of the song\u00a0Singin’ in the Rain<\/em>. \u00a0But all good things must come to and end and we find our “friend and humble narrator” serving over a prison sentence\u00a0although Alex claims “she was breathing when I left her, I swear it” with a coy smirk on his face. \u00a0Though he has no real remorse, he would do anything to get out of e. \u00a0With word spreading that an experimental procedure is taking place to reform the wicked and transform them to into A Clockwork Orange<\/em>.<\/p>\n

The cinematography is no less than spectacular. \u00a0Kubrick uses his sense of what the camera can do and conveys it throughout using consistent light patterns and focusing on extravagant shadows. \u00a0Kubrick used these methods throughout his career to give an eerie noir-like visual style. \u00a0The importance of editing is noticed right away, working in conjunction with the cinematography, miss-en-scene, and the music. \u00a0The musical score is one of the most important aspects of the film. \u00a0Rather than composing new pieces for the film, Walter (now known as Wendy) Carlos arranges mostly instrumental compositions of easily recognized classics from \u00a0Ludwig van Beethoven.<\/p>\n

To classify and label\u00a0A Clockwork Orange\u00a0<\/em>into one specific category would be in contempt for what Stanley Kubrick was known for. \u00a0The story is easy to follow, but all of the added values of cinematic expression is what makes this such a detailed final product. \u00a0All of Kubrick’s films embrace this ability to skew the lines and definitions of what genre actually is. \u00a0Basic\u00a0ideology shows the desensitization of the world. \u00a0What was once considered inappropriate and received an X rating, is now a film that can be shown at film festivals. \u00a0This is examined in the film regarding artistic expression- “Naughty, naughty. \u00a0You filthy old soomka.” \u00a0Supposedly set in a futuristic England, we see how much of the world has become rather tolerant in regards to some forms of what we may consider vulgar. \u00a0What is suggested in A Clockwork Orange<\/em>\u00a0has actually come to fruition, to some degree, in reality.<\/p>\n

**Note: \u00a0This is one of my all-time favorites, but I had trouble finding what was needed to say. \u00a0Ultimately, I can do no justice for the genius that is exposed by one of the masters of cinema. \u00a0I suggest watching the film with commentary by Malcolm McDowell to get a great firsthand account behind not only the making of the film, but also a personal description of the elusive Stanley Kubrick.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Reviewed by Tyler Rowland at Santa Barbara Film Festival 2012 Originally an Anthony Burgess novella, this classic from renowned auteur Stanley Kubrick (Spartacus, The Shining) has received a notorious reputation for its depiction of violence by those who oppose it, but it is also recognized for its brilliant use of cinematic technique for those who […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1634,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,181],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-17564","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-films","category-santa-barbara-film-festival-2012"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/studentfilmreviews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17564","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/studentfilmreviews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/studentfilmreviews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/studentfilmreviews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1634"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/studentfilmreviews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=17564"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/studentfilmreviews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17564\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/studentfilmreviews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=17564"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/studentfilmreviews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=17564"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/studentfilmreviews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=17564"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}