It seems that based upon who I have spoken to, not many people are familiar with my favourite movie of all time, Clockwork Orange. It is ranked at #65 on the IMDb top 250 movie list (far too low in my opinion), and deserves far more attention that it achieves. Directed in 1972 by legendary director Stanley Kubrick, Clockwork Orange follows the exploits of gang member Alexander DeLarge, as he causes havoc and turmoil among anybody his gang of "droogs" come across. It should be said now that the film frequently uses vocabulary not common, lots of which is derived from Russian or other languages. "Droog" for example is to describe a friend, with other words such as "Devotchka" meaning female or girl solidifying the unique nature of the movie.
 |
| An example of the simplistic pop-art inspired by Clockwork Orange |
But I have not yet begin to describe just why Clockwork Orange is my very favourite movie of all time, amongst such gems like "Pulp Fiction" and "The Shining". It is simply how much of an acquired taste the movie is. I can promise you that not everybody is going to enjoy this film, and most will probably dismiss it as being too strange or incomprehensible. A combination of the music, cinematography and acting provide such a memorable experience which will stick with you regardless of if you enjoyed it or not. For example, there is a scene where Alex comes home after a gang fight, and once he has got ready for bed, he places a tape into a machine. All of a sudden, the viewer is bombarded by confusing images of death and chaos, while Ludwig Van Beethoven plays in the background. The juxtaposition of sound and image cause me to smile every time, because this is precisely why I love the film: it is extremely bizarre. Now, I understand the many under-lying messages about government and control, with the famous line "Without choice, a man ceases to be a man.", and I have even picked up on a few examples of symbolism myself, such as the colour red being always present whenever violence is spoken about or viewed, at times seemingly used to say that it is always present inside of us. This further adds to my love of the film, as similar to Fight Club, several viewings can provide completely different perspectives as usually the first is used to get over the initial shock of how unforgiving it all is, but once you watch Clockwork Orange a couple times, I sincerely hope that you develop a love for it as deep as mine.
"It had been a wonderful evening and what I needed now, to give it the perfect ending, was a little of the old Ludwig Van."
 |
| Alexander DeLarge |
I swear I have heard there is a book on this? If there is have you read it? and would you recommend me reading it before watching the film to better understand some of the concepts behind it?
ReplyDeleteGreat blog by the way!!!!!
Hey Tom, thanks for reading! :)
DeleteYeah, I've read the book and it's fairly similar to the movie, but a lot of people say there are several differences. I personally prefer the movie, and you don't need to read the book to understand the movie more, as both follow a very similar story.