A Clockwork Orange

1971

England, in the near future. Alex (Malcolm McDowell) and his gang, the Droogs, are sowing violence and terror until Alex is arrested. In prison, he agrees to undergo a new, experimental therapy: after brainwashing, violence is physically unbearable to him. Upon release, he is mugged by bums such as those he had harassed and beat up with his former companions who have since become policemen, and is eventually pushed to the brink of suicide by the husband of one of his victims. Alex escapes and finds himself offered, by the Home Secretary (Anthony Sharp), a job in government service that will again allow him to indulge his violent instincts.

A Clockwork Orange is the adaptation of a novel by Anthony Burgess based on a tragic incident in the author's life: the rape of his wife by deserters in London during the Second World War.

Kubrick found the book remarkable and, for the first time, worked on the adaptation alone. The film was released in the United States on 2 February 1972, rated X by the censors but was not subjected to any cuts. Several reviewers described it as a "cold but effective satire" and approved of Kubrick's vision. However, some journalists refused any adherence to this vision and its depiction of violence. Pauline Kael wrote: "I cannot accept that Kubrick is merely reflecting this post-assassination, post-Manson (1) mood; I think he's catering to it" (2). In France, the film came out on 21 April 1972. The critics were enthusiastic, with one journalist from Ecran magazine described the film as "torrential, savage, explosive, outrageous, extraordinary [...]" (3).

A Clockwork Orange was one of Warner's biggest successes of the period.