A turn of events in the storyline leads to anti-hero Alex being betrayed by his three followers, who by this point become fed up with his dominance and want more. They push headfirst into the very heart of humanity’s violent nature. The opening 25 minutes are some of the most revolutionary film making of that era. It may not be easily comprehensible at times, but in many ways it mirrors the slang that is at the center of every youth collective of every generation: “We were all feeling a bit shagged and fagged and fashed, it being a night of no small expenditure.” Kubrick also cleverly kept the original novel’s dialogue. As a result, it also acted as a precursor to such futuristic affairs as Bladerunner. The cinematic marvel is wrapped in a futuristic soundscape of synthesizers by innovator Wendy Carlos, giving it an otherworldly depth and quality. By 1973 however, Kubrick had pulled its release from most countries due to the level of controversy and the fear of ‘copycat’ crimes being committed even upon his own family. Adapted from the book of the same name by the late author Anthony Burgess, the movie retained much of the book’s menacing quality – but left out some details surrounding an overall redemption. It is an inevitable factor of life that death and acts of violence are all around us, whether we choose to accept reality or not.Ī Clockwork Orange was banned in many countries (including Ireland) at the time of release. In the same way society in general does not bat an eyelid at the real life stories of murder which appears on the front pages of newspapers, a social media feed or darted across news headlines. ![]() Which is why cinema goers stayed rooted in their seats instead of leaving in disgust. Going one step further, and through that forced overload of violence the audience becomes desensitized to it, and accepts it without knowing. Perhaps it is fairer to say it was escapism into the horrors of the world. But this is realism, and what happens in society. The use of graphic violence, and sexual assault in both caused outcry. Upon release both films were the subject of controversy. Both Stanley Kubrick and Sam Peckinpah had stories to tell, and for better or worse there is a reason as to why they produced the undeniably brilliant works A Clockwork Orangeand Straw Dogs. Two directors took to task what was usually expected to be portrayed on a screen, and twisted it to create a shock-induced response. Of course it took a fearless attitude to go too far for the sake of art – then again we live within the confines of an unhinged world. A realisation perhaps that there were still some boundaries of taste out there to push. Classics such as Hitchcock’s Psycho, Arthur Penn’s Bonnie And Clyde and George Romero’s seminal Night of the Living Dead all held an amount of unsettling shocks. In cinema today, violence is nothing new to an audience, looking back over 50 years and things were pretty much the same. “The whole underside of our society has always been violence and still is.” – Sam Peckinpah
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