A Clockwork Orange - What its time did for it

A Clockwork Orange (1971), both the film and Anthony Burgess’ source novel, is primarily a film of ideas. Ideas, theories, explorations and reflections that, arguably, occasionally get the better of the films narrative, but none the less it is rife with material of meaning and value. It is this meaning that brought the film such acclaim as well as its mass damnation in the UK, being banned for upwards of twenty-five years, for primarily the sexual violence that was said to invite copycat crimes, until its re-release in 2000. The film was, in an undeniably sensationalist way, said to be bringing about the end of society in its depiction of “highbrow teen violence”. The film was even banned in the UK by Stanley Kubrick himself after he and his family received death threats. A deal was struck between Kubrick and Warner Bros. and A Clockwork Orange was not to be shown in the United Kingdom until after the director’s untimely death.

The film’s central dilemma was the question of free will. Is it better for an individual to have God-given free will no matter how they abuse it and use it for what is generally considered evil, or is it better to have society conform to law and order through force and obligation rather than choice? This question had particular significance to Burgess as his wife was assaulted by America soldiers during World War Two which clearly led to the segment of the narrative in which Alex and his three droogs break into the home of a liberal writer and proceed to sexually assault his wife. It is insights such as this that confirm the irony of the film and the point both Kubrick and Burgess were clear about, that A Clockwork Orange was an exploration of violence rather than a celebration as many were quick to accuse it of being.  

Politically, the film can be looked at as an expression and a reflection on post-war libertarianism in the United Kingdome. Furthermore, as a reflection and a statement that can be interpreted to be applied to capitalism and communism alike in a far more subversive way than the already progressive American science-fiction films of the fifties, most notably The Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956) and The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951). A Clockwork Orange has since become one of the most praised and assured cult films of all time due in large part to how significant and provocative it was at its time.