Clockwork Orange premiered 50 years ago today in the UK

Discussion in 'Visual Arts' started by Houseplants, Jan 13, 2022.

  1. carlwm

    carlwm Forum Resident

    Location:
    wales
    Personally, I find the book quite interesting - though not top drawer Anthony Burgess - but I think the film is a waste of celluloid. Kubrick is the weakest of the auteurs, I reckon.

    Subjective opinion, obviously.
     
  2. yesstiles

    yesstiles Senior Member

    I didn’t really realize this movie wasn’t part of the public consciousness until 1972. It’s always listed as a 1971 film, so I’ve always looked back at 1971 has being influenced by this film. Wrong I was.
     
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  3. John B Good

    John B Good Forum Hall Of Fame

    Location:
    NS, Canada
    I would think I saw it when it came out. Many scenes hard to watch, but the notions of brain-washing and a peaceful soma-addicted society run by sleek kleptocrats rings just as true now. Maybe more so. In the DVD era I have been able to view it a number of times.

    I do remember being very impressed with the soundtrack album and had the LP. I knew very little about classical music at the time and Pomp and Circumstance became an instant favorite of mine. I was delighted with I WANT TO MARRY a LIGHTHOUSE KEEPER. And when the Carlos cd came out I had to have it.
     
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  4. hyntsonsvmse

    hyntsonsvmse Nick Beal

    Location:
    northumberland
    An essential film where Kubrick changes the ending to the original UK publication. The USA publication got a much more sanitised ending.
    Thankfully Kubrick stuck to the UK version. Anthony Burgess was not pleased with the films ending.
    I just love the film. Its a work of true art. It also still shocks with its brutality all these years on
     
  5. Paul Mazz

    Paul Mazz Senior Member

    I believe this is backwards. The US version of the novel cut out the last chapter and so did the movie. Both the movie and the US book end with Alex back to being his violent self.
     
  6. Onkster515

    Onkster515 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Los Angeles, CA
    I still think it’s a genius film, but I can’t revisit it any more.

    Once I lived a bit more, and got to know people to whom similarly terrible things have happened, I have a much lower tolerance for brutal violence in film—not just this one, but many others as well.

    I let this one live in my memory, where I can recall just the parts I want to, and leave out the rest.
     
  7. This is correct. In fact, Kubrick was either finished, or very close to being finished with the script before he found out about the UK final chapter. Kubrick never considered revising it to shoe-in Burgess' original ending.

    Burgess wasn't displeased with the ending of the film, either. Kubrick and Burgess eventually had a slight falling-out, but it wasn't because of the film's ending.

    Personally, much like The Shining, I feel that Kubrick's alterations from the source material was justified. As edgy as Kubrick could be, it was the wise choice to have Alex shagging two girls his own age, as opposed to Burgess' novel, where the girls are both 10-years old.

    That said, I've had the 4K UHD of this film sitting on my shelf for nearly a month now. I think I'll get well-lit and watch the film tonight. Perhaps I'll report back. :)
     
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  8. alexpop

    alexpop Power pop + other bad habits....

    Prefer Barry Lydon :)
     
  9. BwanaBob

    BwanaBob Forum Resident

    Location:
    Maryland, USA
    Johnny's brother? ;)
     
  10. alexpop

    alexpop Power pop + other bad habits....

    Seen it in 1971, walked out near the end, alex captured, tortured..aye. Little did I know it wouldn’t be seen again till twenty years.
     
  11. alexpop

    alexpop Power pop + other bad habits....

    Should an incredible magnetic actor Malcom McDowell..so brilliant in IF
     
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  12. beccabear67

    beccabear67 Musical omnivore.

    Location:
    Victoria, Canada
    An ugly film but meant to be ugly. Disturbing even. Obviously iconic, visually arresting. I wonder about some of it's fervent fans however who seem to take it quite differently, as if they'd like to live in that world...
     
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  13. unclefred

    unclefred Coastie with the Moastie

    Location:
    Oregon Coast
    Shortly, a couple of years, after watching it I was working in a mental health program for state mandated sex offenders. We had a brand new treatment regimen that was getting national attention. It stopped me cold when I realized that we were doing the movie.

    The offender was placed in a dark booth and forced to watch porn that was chosen to address his naughty issues. Rape, pedophilia etc. A device was attached to his ***** to detect arousal. Any arousal to deviate content would get him a strong blast of an ammonia solution into his nose. It turned out to be an effective treatment although some evidence showed, years later, that awhile after the treatments were over the deviance returned for some.
     
  14. Amnion

    Amnion Forum Occupant

    Location:
    Ontario, Canada
    Steady:winkgrin:. Ugly, yes, and probably deliberately to evoke "what might come" scenarios. Those were the times, and these visions (book and movie) were reflective of that. As to fervent fans wanting to live in that world?? Any art is not responsible for how fringe elements might react to it. Do you think Burgess/Kubrick were in some way advocating for a desirable future?
     
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  15. Frangelico

    Frangelico Forum Resident

    Location:
    USA
    Kubrick either didn’t understand some literature, didn’t care, or was deliberately obtuse. Both Lolita and A Clockwork Orange come to mind. Pretty irresponsible considering the subject matter.

    I do think he’s a very good director overall - The Killing, Dr. Strangelove, are 2001 are all great - the rest are mostly misses and overrated.
     
  16. beccabear67

    beccabear67 Musical omnivore.

    Location:
    Victoria, Canada
    I think it's a great film that makes you think... a lot, so if someone doesn't and just sees the surface and finds that attractive it's not because there was a lack of many things going on below the surface. I wouldn't want to live in 'Blade Runner' world either but visually it's very intoxicating. File under 'dress-up' with the Rambo cartoon character camo-pajamas for the kids I guess (First Blood being like Death Wish only they failed to market Bronson PJs somehow). I think Peckinpah movies are inherently good anyway...

    Lolita was a solid enough film as well as book... I thought it really showed the juvenile quality of such a crush character and didn't end well because it couldn't have. Baby Doll was a bit weirder; more southern gothic eccentric... Jerry Lee and his cousin as a real world example and the scandal when it came out being known to most.
     
    Last edited: Jan 31, 2022
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  17. The UHD of A Clockwork Orange keeps all of the original film aesthetics, the moody picture, the the seemingly off-hand composition, etc., yet the UHD enhances the film in ways I wasn't expecting. I mean, this presentation, especially the color timing and loads of added detail, is a huge jump from the BD. It's a much bigger gulf than what I found between the BD and the UHD of The Shining.

    I simply wasn't expecting to be as floored as I was with ACO's 4K presentation. It's not as pretty as 2001, yet there are plenty of colors to marvel at, making the film not quite as grimy due to the superb delineation between greys and blacks. No scene is crushed, no artifacts that I could detect, and although the film has its soft moments, they weren't as proliferous as I once thought because of the very even-nature of the presentation as a whole.

    It seems as if every bit of care that went into 2001 was also employed for the mastering of A Clockwork Orange.

    Yes, it still looks like 1971, which it should, but too good for 1971, if that makes sense. This was the exact same touch used on the Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory UHD (also 1971), where much better colors and darker tones are no longer stifled by the medium.

    Simply stated, you haven't seen this film unless you've seen it in UHD, 4K.
     
  18. Claus LH

    Claus LH Forum Resident

    Saw it first around 1983, quite sober, and I remember coming out of the theatre feeling like I had been run over by a truck...
    It struck me as the most amazing, devil-may-care piece of filmmaking I had ever seen, violating everything in its path.

    I now have the UHD disc on the shelf, and, having seen the film only once again over the years, I await a night alone in which to re-visit it in its new glory.

    It may have dated, or it may in fact still be right on the money...

    C.
     
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  19. Thats exactly what I did. I got a quiet night to myself, I was a little not-completely-sober, and I watched. I had had this UHD on my shelf for over a month, because frankly, even having read the reviews, I wasn't quite convinced that the PQ would be all that.

    Not, was I ever so glad to be wrong.

    I'll tell you, this film seemed even more shocking today. Perhaps those extra details and colors sent it over the top; wow, what an uncomfortable watch. I had always felt sympathy for the victims, but now it was more than ever.

    I mused to myself that there was very little redeemable actions on the screen, yet the presentation kept my eyes glued. I guess that's part of the point. If you don't feel discomfort whilst watching, something might be askew in your gulliver.
     
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  20. MAYBEIMAMAZED

    MAYBEIMAMAZED Don't think Twice it's alright

    Location:
    DFW TEXAS
    I watched it a few months ago I had not seen it in years, I had forgotten how strange it was although I finished it I lost a bit of interest
    towards the end.
     
  21. "Her Majesty's a pretty nice girl, but she doesn't have a lot to say..."
     
  22. Purple Jim

    Purple Jim Senior Member

    Location:
    Bretagne
    I tried to get in the cinema when it came out. I was 14, so I got turned away. A few mates who looked older than me got in, the bastards. I didn't see until years later. One of my favouite movies and utterly fascinating.
     
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  23. Jimmy B.

    Jimmy B. .

    Location:
    .
    Last night I saw both A Clockwork Orange for the first time in years (liked in in my 20s - I'm in my 50s now - then saw it again a few years ago, LOATHED it - a movie sympathetic to a rapist and murderer - then tried it again night before last, got only 10-15 minutes, was sickened, had to stop - then watched it last night - can't say I enjoyed it, though the later scenes, esp. the one where he wants to and tries to kill himself, made me think of the idea of karma and past lives beliefs [suffering for something you did once - albeit in another life, as you don't know why you are suffering so, what you did to deserve everything] [but then I remembered I no longer believe that karma actually works, or in reincarnation] and basically don't know what I felt about the movie, though once the horrible "technique" is employed the earlier horror of the movie goes - albeit to be replaced by another kind...) and saw the movie If... for the first time (a movie both soporific for the most part and disturbing in other parts).
    I woke up not feeling so great today....... :(
     
  24. alexpop

    alexpop Power pop + other bad habits....

    The advertising poster, also turntable in film is the best thing.
     
  25. alexpop

    alexpop Power pop + other bad habits....

    50 years ago.. sheesh.
    Remember the cinema I seen it in, watched it alone on a Saturday afternoon.
     
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