I have always had trouble finding what to make of a Stanley Kubrick film while I watch it. Frankly on the occasion that I do watch Kubrick I just allow my self to soak in the images, on reflection see what happens. On reflection of this film I found some confusion. I mean I realize the the surreal imagery is good, but couldn't the story have been told without them or would it not just have been as unforgettable? I don't know. Why are parts of it so different from others? I'm still trying to figure this out. See there's a lot that this film does right. The performance by Malcom Mcdowell as Alex has some energy to it, and the narration helps tie stuff together. All of his dialogue pops. It's just an engaging performance. The film also has touches of humor. There is a particularly funny scene when a guard is having a doctor sign some transfer papers. It wasn't even the writing that interested me in the scene. It was the fact that this actor playing the guard was so funny. Also the camera work, and direction are fantastic.They flow smoothly over the screen at all the right angles. And yet I come out of the film confused. I wondered why? Why is the entire thing so jarring? Well there is a rape scene so that's jarring. There is a beating, and that is too. There's a lot of jarring stuff to be found, and yet the most jarring thing about the entire film is the way that it changes. The first let's say 45 minutes is a drastically different film compared to the rest of it. This portion is made up of the crimes of our hero (raping, killing, and beating). Then we get to the prison part of the film which is not for long,and then we get to the reformation part of the film. This is where we find the biggest change of them all. We go through a part where they are programing him to be sick at the action of sex and violence. Then we go to him being messed with outside of prison by the people he hurt. I mean that's all well and good, but we have just gotten a tone change that comes off wildly uneven. It just does not work. Also I know that the surreal is Kubrick's thing,but this film's seem a little out of place. The entire thing is so grounded in a dark violent nightmare that it's just difficult to find where this all fits. The film is supposed to span a chunk of Alex's life, and yet it just doesn't have the connecting tissues. Sure the combination of music, and images is compelling, but what does it really leave us with? A Clockwork Orange is a fantastic film, when you look at the way that it is played. To bad all of that suffers because of the jarring changes in tone that come with it's progressing story. So of all things maybe one day I'll figure out what's it was really trying to do. But for now I'm giving A Clockwork Orange a 6 out of 10.
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December 2017
CategoriesAuthorHello welcome to FilmAnalyst. My name is Stephen Tronicek, and I really like movies. This is a way to get my opinions out to people. Thank you for visiting. |