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The movie was banned in the UK for almost 30 years. It is about a violent youngster, Alex (Malcolm McDowell) who commits violent crimes (vandalism, street-fighting, rape) with his gang. On a usual sinful venture of the gang in a night, Alex accidentally kills the house mistress and is betrayed by his 3 followers and caught red-handed. Alex is eventually imprisoned. Upon his own request during imprisonment, he is sent for a quick special treatment (2 weeks) that can help him to completely get rid of his sinful behaviours and thoughts and become a perfectly good guy. The treatment works on psychologically restraining Alex's improper behaviours by means of an intrinsic unrest that operates on Alex whenever he intends to indulge in sins. The approach is dramatically successful in turning Alex into a good guy who doesn't commit any more crime and in removing his excessive involvement in sex.

The film has distinct stages in plot development and Alex's psychological status varies with these stages. The exposition of the film shows several crime scenes of extreme violence and rape that make viewers uncomfortable. Stanley Kubrick intentionally makes the exposition violent and long to show contrasts with the middle and later sequences that display Alex's dramatic change in behaviour. The disequilibrium sets in when Alex is caught and sent for imprisonment. The progression witnesses his sending for special treatment (repeated watching of violent and pornographic movies without being allowed to blink eyes), completion of treatment, discharge from imprisonment and return to the community. The climax comes when Alex commits suicide under the well contemplated revenge from his previous writer victim (but is eventually saved). The restoration to equilibrium sets in when Alex is no longer restrained by the intrinsic unrest operating within himself in the hospital. The use of narration serves to increase the degree of objectivity of the story but the adoption of Alex's voice over in narration functions to infuse certain degree of subjectivity (and persuasion indeed) into the objectivity.

The mise-en-scene is impressive: the props, settings and costumes give a futuristic outlook. Alex and his uniformed gang wear silver pullovers, black hats and boots. Alex's costume is deliberately manipulated to create a formidable impression on the viewer. Bright and sharp colours (red, yellow) are displayed and post modern props (furniture and decorations) adopted in the victims' premises. All these do not normally fit into plots of violence and disorder but Kubrick reinforces their adoption in the sequences.

In terms of staging, Kubrick creates many choreographed aberrant body movements of the characters (Alex's gang), frontal nudity of females (the victims) and rear nudity of male (Alex) to deliver a visual message of a twisted community to the viewer. In the middle sequence, Kubrick draws viewer's attention by simulating the repertory by means of spotlights to focus on the characters staging on a platform. This staging device carries a connotation as it tells the viewer that the dramatic changing behaviour of Alex may be an illusion and highlights the genuine nature of behavioural changes. Besides, there are some deep space staging (the writer victim's house, Alex's hospital) to reinforce the isolation and sense of loneliness of the characters.

In terms of cinematography, there are small numbers of camera movement throughout and long-take is used in several occasions. Kubrick also varies the motion speed (slow and accelerated) in some instances to bring some visual messages as to Alex's behaviours to the viewer.

A spectacular acoustic aspect of this Kubrick film is the disparity between music and images. Beethoven's classics and some other soft music are used in violent scenes, connoting a metaphor on the emotional status of Alex. The music also serves as sound motifs that signify certain acts/sins of Alex ("Singing in the Rain" and Beethoven's classical music).

In equally rich filmic and thematic elements, the film explores the nature of crimes and raises issues on the means and ends of the government in reducing crimes and correctional devices for criminals. It also carries a theme on choice and freedom (both for criminals and the society at large). Nevertheless, the issues remain unresolved, not only in the era of the film (early 70s, note that the film was produced in 1971) but in our time as well.

Price of VCD: HK$45
Publisher: Warner Video

註：本評論純屬影評作者個人意見，並不代表本網立場。
Note: This views presented in this review is solely the views of the critic who wrote it and do not represent the stance of our website.

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