Before the easily offended think this isn’t for them I would like to note that, having been released in 1971, the violence is very restrained by modern standards. Any beatings are left to crowbar-esk tools that leave no visible harm. Murder, through the impaling of ornate male genitalia, is also thankfully off camera – although the same cannot be said for the exposé of women shown in the film. This does not mean to say you don’t feel great sympathy for victims, it just means the messages of the film are conveyed effectively, without being lost as the audience cover their eyes in disgust.
Perhaps the greatest strength of the film is that you must helplessly sit looking upon human fallibility. Alex becomes victim of an extreme version of operant conditioning, a government driven experiment to return Criminals to society and make them perfect citizens. He is subjected to feeling immensely ill while experiencing his favourite pleasures; as a result he is rendered incapacitated and borderline suicidal while experiencing them. It is an interesting take on morality, free-will and the ethical dangers of Science, which against all odds resulted in me shifting my sympathies from Alex’s victims to Alex himself, through a series of very ‘providential’ meetings in his now harmless state.
Without spoiling the film, all I can say is that it is very politically and socially driven. It attacks Science, corruption and shows up humanity as absolute bastards. Even for those who are not cynical it provides a refreshing take on some of our greatest weaknesses, our own genius and the blinding effect of emotion, and shows how much of a virtue compassion really is. Timeless classic.
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