A Clockwork Orange A Movie Analysis
In 1962, Anthony Burgess' novel A Clockwork Orange was published for the first time. This novel was an anti-utopian fable about the near future, where teenage gangs habitually terrorize the inhabitants of a shabby metropolis. The novel deals with the main focus that man is a sinner but not sufficiently a sinner to deserve the calamities that are heaped upon him. It is a comic novel about a man's tragic lot. (Bergonzi 152).
In 1971, Stanley Kubrick turned Burgess' novel into a 136 minute, color motion picture produced by Warner Brothers. The movie starred Malcolm McDowell as the young gangster guilty of rape and murder. Kubrick was both writer and director.
Stanley Kubrick was born July 26, 1928 in the Bronx, New York. He is an accomplished director with other ground breaking movies under his belt, such as The Shining, Paths of Glory, and 2001 A Space Odyssey. His films have one common theme- the dehumanization of mankind. He is also known for his symmetric image composition and long "zooming out" and/or "zooming in" sequences. Kubrick constructs three-way conflicts and utilizes the techinique of extreme close-ups of intensely emotional faces. An interesting note is that Kubrick often uses the number 114 in his movies. In Clockwork Orange, Alex is given "Serum 114" when he undergoes Ludovico treatment. (Internet Movie Database 1) Some critics claim that it is due to the brilliance of Kubrick that Clockwork Orange was so successful. In his book The Science Fiction and Fantasy Handbook, Alan Frank writes, "Had the movie been the work of a lesser film maker, it is unlikely that it would have had the reception it received; as it is, [Kubrick's] brutalization of Burgess...
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...reated a controversial film that brought the novel of Anthony Burgess to life. The violence and rapes were forced on the watcher and the nature of mankind as a sinner was driven into the minds of those who sat through the 136 minute film. Bibliography
A Clockwork Orange .
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Bergonzi, Bernard, Contemporary Novelists.1976.
Cohen, Alexander J., Clockwork Orange and the Aestheticization of Violence. Accessed April 28, 1997 from the A Clockwork Orange homepage.
Gottlieb, Sidney, Masterplots II.1987.
Shipman, David. A Pictorial History of Science Fiction Films. In and Out of this World. Hamlyn Publishing, Middlesex, 1985.
Utting, Bryce. A Clockwork Orange discussion notes. Accessed April 25, 1997 from A Clockwork Orange home page.
to read. A Clockwork Orange is an interesting book, to say the least, about a young teenager, named Alex, who has lost his way, so to speak, and commits several serious crimes. These crimes that Alex and his “droogs” commit include: murdering, raping, beat downs, robbery, etc.
The writer of this poem is Gil Scott-Heron. He was born in Chicago, but spent his childhood in Jackson, Tennessee. Scott-Hereon went to Lincoln University in Pennsylvania because two of the people whom he admired went there. However, he taken a year off to write a novel. The audience for this poem is every person, but the specific audience is the media and the government. This poem is written to the media and the government because of how they did not want to portray African Americans, even though they had a big movement going on. Also, the government was corrupt and treated African Americans as they did not even existed.
The film, “A Clockwork Orange,” is, to me, an almost exact replica of today’s society. Basically, one kid, who seems to have come from a financially sound home and community, goes through about three stages--1. He violates the laws society has set forth to maintain order. 2. He is caught and punished for his crimes against society. 3. He feels remorse for his violence and sexually deviance (although, at the end of the film, he’s back to his old, delinquent self).
Very few modern or even classical novels present a psychological tale like that presented in Anthony Burgess's magnum opus and controversial novel, A Clockwork Orange. The novel follows the protagonist and narrator, Alex, who is not a given a surname until the film adaptation. Alex, while the protagonist of the novel, is a violent person up to the second to last chapter of the novel. However, the underlying psychology behind every one of Alex's actions rings true and presents a compelling argument about the nature of free will, violence, and what makes a man human.
The two works suggest that freedom of choice needs to be taken away for the greater good of society. In A Clockwork Orange, social safety and security are the driving forces behind removing freedom from the people, especially Alex, the main character. The start of the movie depicts the struggle of a violent youth that exercises free will in an oppressive but safe and stable society. Alex and his gang, termed droogs, symbolize free will as they attempt to liberate themselves from all government limitations. They indulge in vices shunned by the society such as rape and murder, and bring out the dark side of free will by expressing themselves against a society that encourages safety. Alex’s violent nature makes him a threat and in an attempt to impose order, the government forces Alex to be “transformed out of all recognition” (A Clockwork Orange, Kubrick). T...
Gatsby leads a great life when readers first meet him; he is wealthy and popular among Long Island citizens. However, it all quickly comes to an end when Gatsby’s true past and identity are revealed. Fitzgerald compels readers to believe that the main character had achieved “The American Dream”. However, Gatsby’s fulfillment of the dream was a fabrication for many years. Readers learn that Gatsby’s true dream is to reconnect with Daisy, although, he is not able to do so despite his efforts. It is clear that, considering that Gatsby is revealed to be a fraud, he would never be able to achieve his true American Dream of being with
A Clockwork Orange was claimed by many to be Burgess's greatest accomplishment. The main character, Alex, is a young teen with a drive for violence, rape and general rebellion without remorse, yet he still has a charming intelligent quality. The law finally catches him and he is convicted of murder and sentenced to 14 years in prison. After two years he becomes aware of a route to early release and after killing a cellmate he is elected (almost voluntarily) to be the first to travel it. However, the process is not at all what he expected it to be. He soon finds himself being subjected to immoral films and induced illness to condition him to become ill at even the thought of a "bad" act. When conditioning is complete, A...
Gastroparesis is defined as a chronic symptomatic syndrome of delayed gastric emptying without any indications of mechanical obstruction.1 The etiologies for gastroparesis are diverse, but a majority of cases are from idiopathic causes or secondary to diabetes mellitus.2 In a study done of 146 patients with gastroparesis, 36% were suffering from idiopathic gastroparesis, 29% from diabetic gastroparesis and the remaining 35% had a variety of etiologies which included: postgastric surgery, Parkinson’s disease, collagen vascular disorders, intestinal pseudoobstruction and miscellaneous causes.3
Another factor associated with wrongful convictions is eyewitness misidentification. The Innocence Project identifies eyewitness misidentification as the single most important factor leading to wrongful convictions. Eyewitness misidentification is often an error due to witnesses being under high pressure, witnesses focusing on the weapon more than the offender, and police procedures when receiving an identification statement from a victim. A study
In this article, Williams looks at what she the “glass elevator” which is her term for the advantages that men receive for doing “female-dominate” professions. This was interesting because she looked at why women struggled to succeed in a “male-dominate” position while men seem to be praised in “female-dominate” positions. Something that really struck me from the article was that, Williams suggests the glass escalator really only provides advantages for straight white males. What is intriguing about this is that straight white males are definitely at the top of the hierarchy and everyone else falls below that. Williams states that they receive privileges others don’t, and she is correct because it is seen in our current society. Gender discrimination also goes with racial discrimination. A straight while male would not be judged the same as a gay white male who would not be judged the same way as a straight Hispanic male. This was an eye opening
As both the protagonist and narrator of Anthony Burgess' A Clockwork Orange, the character of Alex is an intriguing study from start to finish. Specifically, in comparing part one and part three of the novel, Alex's world, internally and externally, his characterization and travails are shown to be mirror images of each other, both identical and reversed. Where Alex was the soulless victimizer in part one, he finds himself repeatedly a victim in part three. Where he was once welcome at the story's start, he is cast out at the close. What gives him pleasure at the beginning, in part three gives him pain. This neat symmetrical structure clearly and symbolically portrays how much Alex has changed and what Ludovico's Technique has done to him.
"Personality structure among prisoners: How valid is the five-factor model, and can it offer support for Eysenck 's theory of criminality?" is a study that was created as a result of another study done before it. The previous study was based on research of offenders being done with the use of a
A “clockwork orange” can be described as something that has a convincing outer appearance yet in the inside is merely controlled by outer influences, such as a clock set in motion by its owner. In A Clockwork Orange, Anthony Burgess takes us into the future where violent criminals are forced to be “good,” and introduces us to Alex, a young teen who engages in a life of rape, ultra-violence, and Beethoven with his “droogs,” or friends, and talks in the slang language of “nadsat.” He goes through various phases in his life, evolving into a more mature level of thinking; each of these phases can be seen as clockwork orange. What makes this novel so realistic however, is how real Alex really is and how each of his phases into maturity represents a part of us.
Firstly, one of the most defining elements of the film is Malcolm McDowell’s voice-over-narration. Like Burgess’ use of the first person narration in the novel, Kubrick uses it here to give the audience a view through the mind of this sadist teenager who we, ironically, are able to identify with. Alex is the embodiment of the future’s youth: a teenage monster, characterized by his vicious t...
Barsam, Richard. Looking at Movies An Introduction to Film, Second Edition (Set with DVD). New York: W. W. Norton, 2006. Print.