A Clockwork Orange (1971)

This 1971 film by Stanley Kubrick was one I had always heard of, but for some reason just never got around to watching. I do remember renting it back in junior high and shutting it off after about 15 minutes or so, reason being that the old attention span wasn't so lengthy back in those days. Set in the future, the film tells the tale of a young sociopath named Alex who, along with his small gang, spends his nights roaming the city committing various rapes, beatings and murders, all for the fun of it. The future world of the film is one of violence and lawlessness, and the tone throughout is a very bleak one. Abandoned by his gang of "droogs" during one nighttime raid on an old eccentrics home, Alex is caught and sent to prison, where he takes part in an experimental program designed to eradicate all violent thoughts and intentions in the criminal mind. With that thought therein lies the moral of the story, or at least what I personally got out of it, in that a society that creates such individuals must now deal with ways to erase the inherited violent streak that resides in all humans and in a sense, making them a shell of their true selves. The film is loaded with tons of subliminal (and some not so subliminal) images, especially those of you from the Freudian school of thinking. The violence in the film still has the capacity to shock; vicious rapes and beatings never seem to go out of style, do they? After seeing this film the song "Singing In The Rain" will take on a whole new meaning for you, watch it and see. This film is also full of lots of little quirky aspects, from the fast forward orgy scene to the rather unintelligible slang that was created for the film, guaranteed to have people asking, "what did he say"? every two minutes or so. "Clockwork Orange" is one of those films that people will either be entranced with for the two hour running time, or simply turn it off after fifteen minutes or so. In my opinion, it is still an extremely powerful and important film that I would love to see get a re-release up there on the big screen. Recommended.