Genre: Science fiction A Clockwork Orange: the title conjures up the image of an organic machine; a natural entity reduced to the mechanistic drives of a man-made device. This is certainly the allusion intended by Anthony Burgess when he wrote the novel of the same name, and it is the underlying theme to Stanley Kubrick's controversial 1971 cinematic adaptation, a dystopian vision of law and order in a future Britain of out of control juvenile delinquency and totalitarian mind control programs. A Clockwork Orange follows Alex (Malcolm McDowell) and his "droogs" (gang members) as they wreak havoc on everyone from inner city tramps to wealthy reclusive writers - it's an orgy of perverse violence set to the soundtrack of Alex's favourite composer, Beethoven. Inevitably, the law catches up with Alex, and it is while he is being detained at Her Majesty's pleasure that he agrees to become a part of a controversial new program known as the Ludovico technique, aversion therapy which aims to rehabilitate criminals in just two weeks. Eyes clasped open with metal vices (an image which has gone down as one of the most memorable in movie history), Alex is forced to watch an endless stream of violence, rape and murder until the very thought of violence causes him to collapse on the floor, a retching, impotent mess. Social satire, critique of psychological behaviourism and a wry commentary on the intrusive nature of the totalitarian state, A Clockwork Orange is a truly unique cinematic experience from perhaps the greatest director who ever lived. After the copycat murder of a tramp, Kubrick himself withdrew the film from distribution in the UK - it wasn't until after his death in 1999 that British audiences were able to legally watch it. See also: Alien 3
