A Clockwork Orange is a 1971 darkly satirical science fiction film adaptation of Anthony Burgess's 1962 novel of the same name. The film, which was made in England, concerns Alex (Malcolm McDowell), a charismatic, psychopathic delinquent whose pleasures are classical music (especially Beethoven), rape, and so-called 'ultra-violence.' He leads a small gang of thugs (Pete, Georgie, and Dim), whom he calls his droogs (from the Russian друг, "friend", "buddy"). The film tells the horrific crime spree of his gang, his capture, and attempted rehabilitation via a controversial psychological conditioning technique. Alex narrates most of the film in Nadsat, a fractured, contemporary adolescent slang comprising Slavic (especially Russian), English, and Cockney rhyming slang.
This cinematic adaptation was produced, directed, and written by Stanley Kubrick. It features disturbing, violent images, to facilitate social commentary about psychiatry, youth gangs, and other contemporary social, political, and economic subjects in a dystopian, future Britain. A Clockwork Orange features a soundtrack comprising mostly classical music selections and Moog synthesizer compositions by Walter Carlos (later known as Wendy Carlos). The now-iconic poster of A Clockwork Orange, and its images, were created by designer Bill Gold. The film also holds the Guinness World Record for being the first film in media history to use the Dolby Sound system.
Plot
In London, Alex DeLarge (Malcolm McDowell) is the leader of his "droogs", Pete (Michael Tarn), Georgie (James Marcus), and Dim (Warren Clarke), one of several youth gangs. One night, after intoxicating themselves on "milk plus", they engage in an evening of "the old ultra-violence", including beating an elderly vagrant (Paul Farrell) and fighting a rival gang led by Billyboy (Richard Connaught). Stealing a car, they drive to the country home of Mr. Alexander (Patrick Magee), where they beat Mr. Alexander to the point of crippling him for life, and then Alex rapes his wife (Adrienne Corri) all while singing "Singin' in the Rain".
The next day, while truant from school, Alex is approached by probation officer Mr. P. R. Deltoid (Aubrey Morris), who is aware of Alex's violence and cautions him. After the event of the night before, his droogs express discontent with Alex's petty crimes, demanding more equality and more high-yield thefts, but Alex reasserts his leadership by attacking them and throwing them into a canal. That night, Alex and his droogs invade the mansion of a woman (Miriam Karlin); Alex bludgeons the woman with a phallic statue, and when he hears the police sirens approaching the house, he tries to run away, but is attacked by his droogs, who leave him stunned and bleeding. Alex is captured by the police, and Deltoid informs him that the woman has died, making him a murderer. Alex is sentenced to 14 years incarceration.
Two years into the sentence, the Minister of the Interior (Anthony Sharp) arrives at the prison looking for volunteers for the Ludovico technique, an experimental aversion therapy for rehabilitating criminals within two weeks; Alex readily volunteers. The process involves drugging Alex while strapping him to a chair, forcing his eyelids to stay open, and subjecting him to watch violent movies. Alex, initially pleased by the violent images, starts to become repulsed due to the drugs; he soon realises that the films' soundtracks are by his favourite composer Ludwig Van Beethoven, and that the Ludovico technique will make him averse to that and tries to end the treatment to no avail.
After two weeks of the Ludovico technique, the Minister of the Interior puts on a demonstration to prove that Alex is "cured", shown incapable of fighting back against an actor (John Clive) that insults and assaults him, and becoming violently ill at the sight of a topless woman (Virginia Wetherell). Though the prison chaplain (Godfrey Quigley), who Alex has befriended during his incarceration, protests the results saying that "there's no morality without choice", the prison governor (Michael Gover) asserts they are not interested in the moral questions and only in the means to prevent violence.
Alex is released, finding that his parents have sold his possessions and rented out his room. Homeless, Alex encounters the same elderly vagrant from before, who attacks him with several other friends. Alex is saved by two policemen but is shocked to discover they are his former droogs, Dim and Georgie. They drag Alex to the countryside, where they beat him up and attempt to drown him. The dazed Alex wanders the countryside before coming to the home of Mr. Alexander, and collapses. Alex wakes up to find himself being treated by Mr. Alexander and his manservant Julian (David Prowse). Mr. Alexander does not remember Alex from the earlier attack but has read about his treatment in the newspapers, and sees Alex as a political weapon to usurp the government, exposing the Ludovico treatment as a means to mind controlling society. As Mr. Alexander prepares to introduce Alex to fellow colleagues (John Savident and Margaret Tyzack), he hears Alex singing "Singin' in the Rain" in the bath, and the memories of the earlier assault return. With his colleagues' help, Mr. Alexander drugs Alex and places him in a locked upstairs bedroom, playing "Beethoven's Ninth Symphony" through the floor below. Alex, in excruciating pain, throws himself from the window, and is knocked unconscious by the fall.
Alex is taken to the hospital where he wakes from his injuries, having dreamt about doctors messing around inside his head. While being given a series of psychological tests, Alex finds that he no longer has an aversion to violence. The Minister of the Interior arrives and apologizes to Alex, letting him know that Mr. Alexander has been "put away" and offers Alex an important government job. As a sign of goodwill, the Minister brings in a stereo system playing "Beethoven's Ninth Symphony". Alex then realises that instead of an adverse reaction to the music, he sees an image of himself having sex with a woman in front an approving crowd. He then states, in a sarcastic and menacing voice-over, "I was cured, all right!"
Cast
Malcolm McDowell as Alex DeLarge/Narrator
James Marcus as Georgie, Alex's Droog
Warren Clarke as Dim Corby, Alex's Droog
Michael Tarn as Pete, Alex's Droog
Patrick Magee as Mr. Frank Alexander
Adrienne Corri as Mrs. Mary Alexander
Michael Bates as Chief Guard Barnes
John Clive as Stage actor
Carl Duering as Dr. Brodsky
Paul Farrell as Tramp
Billy Russell as Professor attacked by Droogs in Library (scenes deleted)
Richard Connaught as Billy Boy, Gang Leader
Clive Francis as Joe the Lodger
Michael Gover as Prison Governor
Miriam Karlin as Miss Weathers, Cat Lady
Aubrey Morris as Mr. P. R. Deltoid
Godfrey Quigley as Prison Chaplain
Sheila Raynor as Mum
Madge Ryan as Dr. Branom
John Savident as Conspirator
Anthony Sharp as Frederick, Minister of the Interior
Philip Stone as Dad
Pauline Taylor as Dr. Taylor, Psychiatrist
Margaret Tyzack as Conspirator Rubinstein
Steven Berkoff as Detective Constable Tom
John J. Carney as Detective Sergeant
Lindsay Campbell as Police Inspector
David Prowse as Julian, Mr. Alexander's Bodyguard
Gaye Brown as Sophisto in The Korova Milkbar
Jan Adair as Handmaiden in Bible Fantasy
Vivienne Chandler as 2nd Handmaiden in Bible Fantasy
Prudence Drage as 3rd Handmaiden in Bible Fantasy
Jeremy Curry as Jesus Christ in Bible Fantasy (uncredited)
Carol Drinkwater as Nurse Feeley
Lee Fox as Desk Sergeant
Gillian Hills as Sonietta, Beautiful Blonde Girl in Record Store
Barbara Scott (V) as Marty, Beautiful Brunette Girl in Record Store (uncredited)
Katharina Kubrick as Girl Passing Alex in Record Store (uncredited)
Andros Epaminondas as Bearded Man in Record Store (uncredited)
George O'Gorman as Record Bootik Clerk (uncredited)
Craig Hunter as Dr. Friendly
Shirley Jaffe as Victim of Billyboy's gang
Virginia Wetherell as Stage actress
Neil Wilson as Prison check-in officer
Fred Real as Prison Check-In (uncredited)
Katya Wyeth as Girl in Ascot Fantasy
Pat Roach as Bearded Milkbar Bouncer (uncredited)
Robert Bruce as 2nd Milkbar Bouncer (uncredited)
Steadman Clark as 3rd Milkbar Bouncer (uncredited)
David Dawkins as Humming Technician (uncredited)
Frankie Abbott as Rex, Police Landrover Driver (uncredited)
Maurice Bush as Security Guard (outside Alex's Ludovico room) (uncredited)
Roy Beck as Prison Officer in Chapel (uncredited)
Arthur Tatler as Convict Pianist (uncredited)
Dr. Gundry as Dr. Lidlock (uncredited)
Sister Watkins as Dr. Lidlock's Assistant (uncredited)
Margaret Heald as Nurse Braindrain (who comes in with Psychiatrist) (uncredited)
Themes
Morality
The film's central moral question (as in many of Burgess' books) is the definition of "Goodness" and whether it makes sense to use aversion theory to stop immoral behaviour. Stanley Kubrick, writing in Saturday Review, described the film as
...a social satire dealing with the question of whether behavioural psychology and psychological conditioning are dangerous new weapons for a totalitarian government to use to impose vast controls on its citizens and turn them into little more than robots.
Similarly on the film production's call sheet, Kubrick wrote
It is a story of the dubious redemption of a teenage delinquent by condition-reflex therapy. It is at the same time a running lecture on free-will.
After aversion therapy, Alex behaves like a good member of society, but not by choice. His goodness is involuntary; he has become the titular clockwork orange — organic on the outside, mechanical on the inside. In the prison, after witnessing the Technique in action on Alex, the chaplain criticises it as false, arguing that true goodness must come from within. This leads to the theme of abusing liberties — personal, governmental, civil — by Alex, with two conflicting political forces, the Government and the Dissidents, both manipulating Alex for their purely political ends. The story critically portrays the "conservative" and "liberal" parties as equal, for using Alex as a means to their political ends: the writer Frank Alexander — a victim of Alex and gang — wants revenge against Alex and sees him as a means of definitively turning the populace against the incumbent government and its new regime. Mr Alexander fears the new government; in telephonic conversation, he says:
. . . recruiting brutal young roughs into the police; proposing debilitating and will-sapping techniques of conditioning. Oh, we've seen it all before in other countries; the thin end of the wedge! Before we know where we are, we shall have the full apparatus of totalitarianism.
On the other side, the Minister of the Interior (the Government) jails Mr Alexander (the Dissident Intellectual) on excuse of his endangering Alex (the People), rather than the government's totalitarian regime (described by Mr Alexander). It is unclear whether or not he has been harmed; however, the Minister tells Alex that the writer has been denied the ability to write and produce "subversive" material that is critical of the incumbent government and meant to provoke political unrest.
It has been noted that Alex's immorality is reflected in the society in which he lives. The Cat Lady's love of hardcore pornographic art is comparable to Alex's taste for sex and violence. Lighter forms of pornographic content adorn Alex's parents' home and, in a later scene, Alex awakens in hospital from his coma, interrupting a nurse and doctor engaged in a sexual act.
Psychology
Ludovico technique apparatus.
Another critical target is the behaviourism (or "behavioural psychology") of the 1940s to 1960s as propounded by the psychologists John B. Watson and B. F. Skinner. Burgess disapproved of behaviourism, calling prominent behaviourist B. F. Skinner's most popular book, Beyond Freedom and Dignity (1971), "one of the most dangerous books ever written". Although behaviourism's limitations were conceded by its principal founder, J. B. Watson, Skinner argued that behaviour modification – specifically, operant conditioning (learned behaviours via systematic reward-and-punishment techniques) rather than the "classical" Watsonian conditioning – is the key to an ideal society. The film's Ludovico technique is widely perceived, however, as a parody of aversion therapy more than of classical or operant conditioning.
In showing the "rehabilitated" Alex repelled by both sex and violence, the film suggests that in depriving him of his ability to fend for himself, Alex's moral conditioning via the Ludovico technique dehumanises him, just as Alex's acts of violence in the first part of the film dehumanise his victims. The technique's attempt to condition Alex to associate violence with severe physical sickness is akin to the CIA's Project MKULTRA of the 1950s.
The Ludovico technique has been compared to the existing technique of chemical castration.
Production
During the filming of the Ludovico technique scene, McDowell scratched a cornea and was temporarily blinded. The doctor standing next to him in the scene, dropping saline solution into Alex's forced-open eyes, was a real physician present to prevent the actor's eyes from drying. McDowell also cracked some ribs filming the humiliation stage show. Special effects-wise, when Alex jumps out the window in an attempt to commit suicide, the viewer sees the ground approaching the camera until collision, i.e. as if from Alex's point of view. This effect was achieved by dropping a Newman Sinclair clockwork camera in a box, lens-first, from the third storey of the Corus Hotel. To Kubrick's surprise, the camera survived six takes
Adaptation
The cinematic adaptation of A Clockwork Orange (1962), by Anthony Burgess, was accidental. Screenplay writer Terry Southern gave Kubrick a copy of the novel, but, as he was developing a Napoleon Bonaparte-related project, Kubrick put it aside. Soon afterward, however, the Bonaparte project was cancelled and, sometime later, Kubrick happened upon the novel. It had an immediate impact. Of his enthusiasm for it, Kubrick said, "I was excited by everything about it, the plot, the ideas, the characters and of course the language ... The story functions, of course, on several levels, political, sociological, philosophical and, what's most important, on a dreamlike psychological-symbolic level". Kubrick wrote a screenplay faithful to the novel, saying "I think whatever Burgess had to say about the story was said in the book, but I did invent a few useful narrative ideas and reshape some of the scenes".
The novelist's response
Anthony Burgess had mixed feelings about the cinema version of his novel, publicly saying he loved Malcolm McDowell and Michael Bates, and the use of music; he praised it as "brilliant", even so brilliant that it might be dangerous. Despite this enthusiasm, he was concerned that it lacked the novel's redemptive final chapter, an absence he blamed upon his American publisher (this chapter being omitted in all US editions of the novel prior to 1986) and not Kubrick.
Burgess reports in his autobiography You've Had Your Time (1990) that he and Kubrick at first enjoyed a good relationship, each holding similar philosophical and political views and each very interested in literature, cinema, music and Napoleon Bonaparte. Burgess's 1974 novel Napoleon Symphony was dedicated to Kubrick. Their relationship soured, however, when Kubrick left Burgess to defend the film from accusations of glorifying violence. A (lapsed) Catholic, Burgess tried many times to explain the Christian moral points of the story to outraged Christian organizations and to defend it against newspaper accusations that it supported fascist dogma. He also went to receive awards given to Kubrick on his behalf.
Burgess was deeply hurt, feeling that Kubrick had used him as a film publicity pawn. Malcolm McDowell, on publicity tour with Burgess, shared his feelings, and, at times, spoke harshly about Kubrick. As evidence, both novelist and actor cited Kubrick's uncontrolled ego manifest in the film credits: the only author credited is "Kubrick". Later, Burgess spoofed Kubrick's image, firstly in the musical version of A Clockwork Orange, where a Kubrick-like character is beaten; then in The Clockwork Testament (1974) novel, where the poet F.X. Enderby is attacked for "glorifying" violence in a film adaptation; and, in 1980, as the crafty director Sidney Labrick in the novel Earthly Powers.
Previous film versions
The first dramatization of A Clockwork Orange, featuring only the story's first three chapters, was made for the BBC programme Tonight, broadcast soon after the novel's original publication in 1962; no recording is known to exist. Six years before Stanley Kubrick's film, Andy Warhol made Vinyl, a low-budget version of the work. Reportedly, only two scenes are recognizable: "Victor" (Alex) wreaking havoc and undergoing the Ludovico treatment. However, both Kubrick's and Warhol's films start with a similar shot - camera zooming out of Alex's face.
Direction
Kubrick was a perfectionist of meticulous research (with thousands of photographs taken of potential locations), many scene takes - however per Malcolm McDowell, he usually "got it right" early on, so there were few takes. Filming took place between September 1970 and April 1971, marking A Clockwork Orange as his quickest film shoot in the later part of his career. Technically, to achieve and convey the fantastic, dream-like quality of the story, he filmed with extreme wide-angle lenses such as the Kinoptik Tegea 9.8mm for 35mm Arriflex cameras, and used fast- and slow motion to convey the mechanical nature of its bedroom sex scene or stylize the violence in a manner similar to Toshio Matsumoto's Funeral Parade of Roses (1969).
Locations
A Clockwork Orange was photographed mostly on location in metropolitan London. Little studio filming was used, except for the Korova Milk bar, the Prison Check-in sequence, and scenes of Alex at F. Alexander's house taking a bath, and in the hallway. Sets for these parts were built at an old factory on Bullhead Road, Elstree, which also served as the production office. Other scene locations in the film include:
The attack on the tramp was filmed at the southern underpass below Wandsworth Bridge roundabout, London.
The Billyboy gang fight occurs at the now-demolished casino on Taggs Island, Kingston upon Thames.
Alex's apartment is on the top floor of Century House tower block, Borehamwood. An exterior plaque and mosaic at ground level commemorates the film's location.
The record shop where Alex picked up two women was in the former Chelsea Drugstore, located on the corner of Royal Avenue and King's Road in Chelsea. A McDonald's restaurant now occupies the building.
The writer's house, site of the rape and beating, was filmed at three different locations: The arrival in the 'Durango 95' by the 'HOME' sign was shot in School Lane, Brickett Wood (as was the trough/beating scene). The house's garden with the footbridge over the pond is Milton Grundy's famous Japanese garden in Shipton-under-Wychwood and the interior is Skybreak house, in The Warren, Radlett, Hertfordshire, designed by Team 4, which included Norman Foster, Wendy Foster, Richard Rogers and Su Rogers.
Alex throws Dim and Georgie into a lake at the Thamesmead South Housing Estate, London. This is the same location where Alex walks home at night kicking rubbish.
The house where Alex is caught by police is Shenley Lodge, in Hertfordshire, at Blackhorse Lane.
Alex is attacked by vagrants underneath the North side of the Albert Bridge, Kensington and Chelsea, London.
The prison's exterior is HMP Wandsworth, its interior is the Woolwich Barracks.
The check-in at Ludovico Medical Clinic entrance, the brain washing film theatre, Alex's house lobby with the broken elevator, Alex's hospital bedroom and police interrogation room is Brunel University.
The Minister's presentation to the media of Alex's 'cure' takes place at the Nettlefold Hall inside West Norwood Library.
Alex's suicide bid leap and corresponding billiard room were at the old Edgewarebury Country Club, Elstree.
The hospital where Alex recovers, and the Ludovico effects reverse, is Princess Alexandra Hospital (Harlow).
The final rape fantasy was shot at the demolished Handley Page Ltd's hangars in Radlett.
Reception
A Clockwork Orange was critically well-received, and nominated for several awards, including the Academy Award for Best Picture (losing to The French Connection), also re-invigorating sales of Ludwig van Beethoven's "Ninth Symphony". More recently, A Clockwork Orange earned a 91% "Certified Fresh" rating in the Rotten Tomatoes movie review website.
Despite critical praise, the film had notable detractors. Chicago movie reviewer Roger Ebert gave A Clockwork Orange two stars out of four, calling it an "ideological mess." In the New Yorker magazine review "Stanley Strangelove", Pauline Kael called it pornographic, because of how it dehumanised Alex's victims, while highlighting the sufferings of the protagonist. Also noting that the cinematic Alex no longer enjoyed running-over small animals or raping under-aged girls, and argued that violent scenes — the Billyboy's gang extended stripping of the very buxom woman they intend to rape — were offered for titillation.
John Simon noted that the novel's most ambitious effects were based on language and the alienating effect of the narrator's Nadsat slang, making it a poor choice for a film. Concurring with some of Kael's criticisms, about the depiction of Alex's victims, Simon noted that the writer character (young and likeable in the novel), was played by Patrick Magee, "a very quirky and middle-aged actor who specialises in being repellent". Moreover complaining, "Kubrick over-directs the basically excessive Magee until his eyes erupt, like missiles from their silos, and his face turns every shade of a Technicolor sunset."
Responses and controversy
Along with Bonnie and Clyde (1967), The Wild Bunch (1969), Dirty Harry (1971) and Straw Dogs (1971), the film is considered a landmark in the relaxation of control on violence in the cinema. In the United Kingdom, A Clockwork Orange was very controversial, and withdrawn from release by Kubrick himself. By the year 2000, its re-release time, cinephiles had conferred upon it Cult Film status. It is 21st in the AFI's 100 Years... 100 Thrills and number 46 in the AFI's 100 Years... 100 Movies, although in the second listing it is ranked 70th of 100. "Alex De Large" is listed 12th in the villains section of the AFI's 100 Years... 100 Heroes and Villains. In 2008, the AFI's 10 Top 10 rated A Clockwork Orange as the 4th greatest science-fiction movie to date.
American censorship
In the United States, A Clockwork Orange was rated X in its original release form. Kubrick later, voluntarily, replaced some 30 seconds of sexually explicit footage, from two scenes, with less bawdy action, for an R rating re-release in 1973. Current DVDs present the original X-rated form, and only some of the early '80s VHS editions are the R-rated form.
The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops' Office for Film and Broadcasting rated it C ("Condemned") because of the explicit sex and violence. Conceptually, said rating of condemnation forbade Roman Catholics from seeing A Clockwork Orange. In 1982, the Office abolished the "Condemned" rating; hence, films the Conference of Bishops deem to have unacceptable sex and violence are rated O, "Morally Offensive".
British withdrawal
The British authorities considered the sexual violence extreme, furthermore, there occurred legal claims that the movie A Clockwork Orange had inspired true copycat crimes, as per press cuttings at the British Film Institute. In March 1972, at trial, the prosecutor accusing the fourteen-year-old-boy defendant of the manslaughter of a classmate, referred to A Clockwork Orange, telling the judge that the case had a macabre relevance to the film. The attacker, a Bletchley boy of sixteen, pleaded guilty after telling police that friends had told him of the film “and the beating up of an old boy like this one”; defence counsel told the trial “the link between this crime and sensational literature, particularly A Clockwork Orange, is established beyond reasonable doubt”. The press also blamed the film for a rape in which the attackers sang “Singin' in the Rain”. Kubrick's wife has said that the family received threats and had protesters outside their home. Subsequently, Kubrick asked Warner Brothers to withdraw the film from British distribution.
The Scala Cinema Club went into receivership in 1993 after screening the film illegally.
Whatever the reason for the film's withdrawal, for some 27 years, it was difficult to see the film in the United Kingdom. It reappeared in cinemas, and the first VHS and DVD releases followed soon after Kubrick's death. On 4 July 2001, the uncut A Clockwork Orange had its premiere broadcast on Sky TV's Sky Box Office; the run was until mid-September.
Withdrawal controversy documentary
In 1993, Channel 4 broadcast Forbidden Fruit, a 27-minute documentary about the controversial withdrawal of the film in Britain.[25] It contains much footage from A Clockwork Orange, thus, marking the only time portions of the film were shown to British audiences during the twenty-seven year ban. Kubrick failed to stop the Forbidden Fruit documentary's use of said footage.
Public perception of genre
A Clockwork Orange was neither marketed as a horror film, nor reviewed as one upon release. Over a period of time, it has gained a following among horror film aficionados, frequently discussed as one in online bulletin boards and chat rooms devoted to horror films (with some dissenters as to the classification), as well as being listed in an online horror film database. The UK daily paper Metro had a reader poll of favourite horror films in 2010 and reported that The Exorcist beat out Saw and A Clockwork Orange.
One well-known critic who counts the film as horror is Maitland McDonagh, senior movies editor of TVGuide from 1995 to 2008, and author of a book on the horror films of Dario Argento. Commenting on why horror films rarely win Oscars, she notes the exceptions of The Exorcist, Silence of the Lambs, and A Clockwork Orange saying the prestige of the directors meant the films could not be ignored. English novelist Julian Mitchell described the novel as a remarkable mixture of horror and farce.
On the other hand, American Movie Channel's film critic Cory Abbey in an article on scary movies that are not horror lists A Clockwork Orange along with Jaws, Silence of the Lambs and others. When the American Film Institute chose their top 10 films in several genres, it listed Clockwork as a science-fiction film, while having no horror list at all. The film is listed as crime drama and science-fiction by the Internet Movie Database but not as horror.
A Clockwork Orange is most frequently described as political satire, dystopian science-fiction, black comedy, and crime drama, although its crossover appeal to the horror fan community is unmistakable.
Differences between the film and the novel
Kubrick's film is relatively faithful to the Burgess novel, omitting only the final, positive chapter, wherein, Alex matures and outgrows sociopathy. Whereas the film ends with Alex offered an open-ended government job — implying he remains a sociopath at heart — the novel ends with Alex's positive change in character. This plot discrepancy occurred because Kubrick based his screenplay upon the novel's American edition, its final chapter deleted on insistence of the American publisher. He claimed not having read the complete, original version of the novel until he had almost finished writing the screenplay, and that he never considered using it. The introduction to the 1996 edition of A Clockwork Orange, says that Kubrick found the end of the original edition too blandly optimistic and unrealistic.
Thematic alterations of the novel
The film includes the phrase "A Clockwork Orange" only once. We see A Clockwork Orange written on a piece of paper in Mr. Alexander's typewriter. The book explains that the author Frank is supposed to have written a political tract by that name (with a passage explaining the title), but this is not mentioned in the movie.
As noted above, the last chapter (21) of the novel was not filmed. In this chapter, Alex encounters Pete, the third member of the original gang (who was heavily cut out of the film) who has grown beyond his violent ways and married; Alex realises that he wishes to do the same, but believes his violence was an unavoidable product of his youth. See also "Deleted Scenes" section below.
In the novel, the writer whose wife Alex rapes is named "F. Alexander", leading to a coincidental comparison between the two "Alexanders". The film does not mention his surname, though he is called "Mr. Alexander" in the credits. In the film, he is addressed by his first name, "Frank", a detail not revealed in the book. The writer is quite young in the novel, and elderly in the film. The novel is also very overt quite early about his being a political activist. This is strongly hinted at in the film by scattered clues, but not spelled out so clearly.
In the film, Alex's surname is spoken as "DeLarge" on arrival at prison; this surname is a pun based on an incident in the book, when Alex (referring to his penis) calls himself "Alexander the Large" (in turn a reference to Alexander the Great). In a close-up shot of multiple newspaper articles, Alex is identified as "Alex Burgess". In the novel, Alex's surname is unknown.
Changes in characterization and motivation
Alex's character in the film is more subtly manipulative, as illustrated in a few examples. In the novel, the incarcerated Alex and cell mates brutally beat a man just put in their cell, for being a nuisance. Alex accidentally kills him. For such persistent violence, Alex is selected to undergo the Ludovico Technique. However, in the film, Alex volunteers for the treatment and is chosen in part for his good behaviour in prison.
Similarly, when Alex's parents visit him in the hospital, Alex threatens them with violence in the novel while in the film, he more subtly plays on their feelings of grief and guilt. Alex's behaviour to the prison chaplain is similarly manipulative.
Critic Randy Rasmussen has argued that the government in the film is in a considerable shambles and in a state of desperation while the government in the novel is quite strong and self-confident. The former reflects Kubrick's broad preoccupation with the theme of acts of self-interest masked as simply following procedure.
One example of this would be differences in the portrayal of P.R. Deltoid, Alex's "post-corrective advisor". In the novel, P.R. Deltoid appears to have some moral authority (although not enough to prevent Alex from lying to him or engaging in crime despite his protestations). In the film, Deltoid is a both seems slightly sadistic and seems to have a slight sexual interest in Alex, interviewing him in his parent's bedroom and grabbing him in the crotch.
The film also suggests that the experimentation of Alex using the Ludovico's Treatment is far more politically motivated, and that the controlling party is attempting to implement the Ludovico's Treatment as a way to gain votes. The subsequent "curing" and bribing of Alex is used to cover-up for the Party's PR struggles and to portray Mr. Alexander and the Left-wing as monstrous.
In the film, the "cat lady" whose house Alex breaks into possesses a great deal of sexual artwork, including a rocking penis sculpture with which Alex delivers the killing strike. None of this artwork is mentioned in the book. The "cat lady" in the novel is elderly, addled, and living in a cat-ridden house of Miss Havisham-style dilapidation; the "cat lady" in the movie is in her early 60s, sharp, and living in a health farm which (according to dialogue) has closed for a week.
In the novel, it is completely clear that Mrs. Alexander died of injuries sustained during the gang-rape. Kubrick's film has Mr. Alexander rant that his wife died a few months later during a flu epidemic, though he still blames her death on the rape. He calls her a "victim of the modern age".
When Alex re-encounters Mr. Alexander in the novel, Burgess portrays him as a basically decent man struggling to maintain his sanity after his life has been ripped apart. In the film, Kubrick turns Mr. Alexander to a less mentally stable, very traumatized and angry figure whose hair has been teased out to give him a faint resemblance to Beethoven.
References to Beethoven
While Alex is being tortured by Mr. Alexander's playing of Beethoven on the stereo, Kubrick composes the shot so that the author is transformed into a bust of Beethoven. Even the arrangement of the scarf around his neck suggests the contours of a statuette.
The doorbell of the author's house resembles the four-note opening motif of Beethoven's fifth symphony.
In the film, when the Cat Lady assaults Alex, she holds a small bust of Beethoven, while Alex holds a large sculpted penis. In the novel, Alex wields a bust of Beethoven during their fight, while the Cat Lady attempts to fight back with a walking stick. Additionally, in the novel, Alex is attacked by the Cat Lady's cats as he tries to escape.
Alex is conditioned against all music in the book, but in the film he is only averse to Beethoven's Ninth Symphony. During one of the applications of the Ludovico Technique, Beethoven's Fifth symphony is played, and Alex begs for them to stop. In the movie, it is the Ninth symphony which is played during this scene.
"Deleted scenes" from the novel
Two of the attacks in the opening chapters of the novel—the assault on a library patron carrying rare books, and the strong-arm robbery of a shopkeeper and his wife—are not present in the film. On his commentary on the 2007 DVD release, Malcolm McDowell says the scenes were filmed but later discarded. Billy Russell, the actor playing the library patron, became ill after the initial production and was not available for the scenes in which Alex re-encounters his old victims.
In the novel, Alex and his gang buy drinks and snacks for a group of old ladies, bribing them into providing the police with an alibi to cover a crast (shop burglary). None of this appears in the film; the scene with the old ladies was shot, but not used.
In the novel, Alex is beaten by prison guards. The film does not show this, but Alex mentions it in his narration.
Characters added to the film
In the novel, F. Alexander lives alone after the death of his wife, and manages most of the housework by himself despite his condition. In the film, he is shown to have hired a bodyguard named Julian to help him around the house and guard the home from future break-ins. The bodyguard is played by former bodybuilder and future Darth Vader, David Prowse in a brief role. (George Lucas later related that he chose Prowse for the role of Darth Vader after seeing him in this film).
In the film, Alex has a pet snake. There is no mention of this in the novel. This was added by Kubrick due to Malcolm McDowell's fear of snakes.
Other changes to ages of characters
The girl that is about to be raped by Billyboy's gang is 10 in the book, but a young woman in the film.
In the novel, Alex takes home and rapes two 10-year-old girls, Marty and Sonietta, after meeting them in a record shop. In the film (for obvious reasons), the girls are teenagers, and their sexual encounter with Alex appears to be (at least mostly) consensual. Also, in the book, Alex buys the girls ice cream and food prior to raping them, while this scene is not included in the film (though, in the film, the girls are shown slurping on popsicles at the record shop).
Other differences
In the novel, Dr. Branom is a male. In the film, the character is female.
The film uses the futuristic slang language Nadsat somewhat less often than the book in order to make the film more accessible.
Changes in plot details (in chronological order)
In the film, Alex and his droogs beat a tramp, who later recognizes him and, with other homeless people, assaults him after his treatment. In the book, Alex beats an old man carrying library books, who later recognizes him and (with other aged people) assaults him in a library after his treatment. Alex and his droogs also beat a tramp in the book, but Alex does not encounter him again.
Alex's weapon of choice in the book is a britva (razor); in the film, he wields a cane with a knife concealed in the handle (similar to a Victorian London dagger cane).
In the film, the car seen before the home invasion is the M-505 Adams Brothers Probe 16, in the novel (and in the film's narration) however, it is referred to as Durango 95. Only three were produced. In the TV-program Top Gear (Season 2004, 2nd episode, aired 31 October 2004), the one used in the film was nominated for restoration in the Restoration Rip-off feature.
When trying to escape from the cat lady's house, Alex is stopped by Dim, who attacks him and leaves him for the police. In the novel, Dim uses his "oozy" (or chain) to whip Alex across the face. In the film, Dim smashes a milk bottle across the side of Alex's head.
In the novel, Alex's prisoner number is 6655321; in the film, it is 655321.
In the novel, an imprisoned Alex learns of the death of his former droog Georgie during a botched burglary. In the film, Alex meets with Dim and Georgie after his release from prison, but what happened to Pete during Alex's incarceration is unknown.
In the novel, Alex is beaten by his former droog, Dim, and his former rival, Billyboy, who have both joined the police. The beating itself is not described, though Alex subsequently notes soreness and several teeth knocked loose (he also believes himself to be covered with cuts and bruises). In the film, Billyboy is replaced in this scene by Georgie, another former droog; they take Alex down a wood path to a watering trough, where Dim forces Alex's head underwater and Georgie beats him with his truncheon.
In the novel, F. Alexander recognises Alex through a number of careless references to the previous attack (e.g., his wife then claiming they did not have a telephone). In the film Alex is recognised when singing the song 'Singing in the Rain' in the bath, which he hauntingly had done whilst attacking F. Alexander's wife. The song does not appear at all in the book, as it was an improvisation by actor Malcolm McDowell when Kubrick complained that the rape scene was too "stiff".
References to previous Kubrick films
The album cover of the soundtrack to 2001: A Space Odyssey, also directed by Stanley Kubrick, is visible in the record-shop scene.
Alex is given Experimental Serum 114, a phonetic play on the name of the CRM-114 radio seen in Dr. Strangelove.
Awards and honours
Academy Awards
nominated Best Director - Stanley Kubrick
nominated Best Film Editing - Bill Butler
nominated Best Picture
nominated Best Adapted Screenplay - Stanley Kubrick
BAFTA Awards
BAFTA Film Award Best Art Direction - John Barry
Best Cinematography - John Alcott
Best Direction - Stanley Kubrick
Best Film
Best Film Editing - William Butler
Best Screenplay - Stanley Kubrick
Best Sound Track - Brian Blamey, John Jordan, Bill Rowe
Directors Guild of America
1972 Nominated DGA Award Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Motion Pictures - Stanley Kubrick
Golden Globes
nominated 1972 Nominated Golden Globe Best Director: Motion Picture - Stanley Kubrick
nominated Best Motion Picture - Drama
nominated Best Motion Picture Actor: Drama - Malcolm McDowell
Hugo Awards
1972 Won Hugo Best Dramatic Presentation
New York Film Critics Circle Awards
1971 Won NYFCC Award Best Director - Stanley Kubrick
Best Film
Writers Guild of America, United States
1972 Nominated WGA Award (Screen) Best Drama Adapted from Another Medium - Stanley Kubrick
American Film Institute recognition
AFI's 100 Years... 100 Movies (1998) - #46
AFI's 100 Years... 100 Thrills (2001) - #21
AFI's 100 Years... 100 Heroes and Villains (2003): #12 Villain (Alex)
AFI's 100 Years... 100 Movies (10th Anniversary Edition) (2007) - #70
AFI's 10 Top 10 (2008) - #4 Sci-Fi Film
In 2008, Empire magazine rank this at #37 on their list of "The 500 Greatest Movies of All Time."
Home media releases
In 2000, the film was released on VHS and DVD, both individually and as part of The Stanley Kubrick Collection DVD set. Consequent to negative comments from fans, Warner Bros re-released the film, its image digitally restored and its soundtrack remastered. A limited-edition collector's set with a soundtrack disc, movie poster, booklet and film strip followed, but later was discontinued. In 2005, a British re-release, packaged as an "Iconic Film" in a limited-edition slipcase was published, identical to the remastered DVD set, except for different package cover art. In 2006, Warner Bros announced the September publication of a two-disc special edition featuring a Malcolm McDowell commentary, and the releases of other two-disc sets of Stanley Kubrick films. Several British retailers had set the release date as 6 November 2006; the release was delayed and re-announced for 2007 Holiday Season.
An HD DVD, Blu-ray, and DVD re-release version of the film was released on 23 October 2007. The release accompanies four other Kubrick classics. 1080p video transfers and remixed Dolby TrueHD 5.1 (for HD DVD) and uncompressed 5.1 PCM (for Blu-ray) audio tracks are on both the Blu-ray and HD DVD editions. Unlike the previous version, the DVD re-release edition is anamorphically enhanced. The Blu-ray was reissued for the 40th anniversary of the film's release, however this release is identical to the previously-released Blu-ray apart from adding a Digibook and the Stanley Kubrick: A Life in Pictures documentary as a bonus feature.
