A Clockwork Orange [SPOILER] | Notes On Movies

Hello! This will be my first post of Notes on Movies  series. I will post fun facts, my thoughts and much more notes on movies that I like.  

A Clockwork Orange is a movie under the spotlight of Malcolm McDowell's spectecular performance of Alex Delarge. 

-Rest of the post contains Spoiler!-

During Alex's therapy, while doctors force Alex to watch videos which contains violance, rape etc. , actually the audiance is under an irony. Until that part of the movie, the viewer watched various brutal scenes which include rape, violance, homicide by his/her decision. On the other hand, Alex, so called devil in the movie even can't endure to watch such scenes in his rehabitalion process. 

Similarly, the scene where Alex masturbates while watching brutal scenes also puts the audiance in an irony. The priest says that, since the cured version of Alex can't make decisions, he can't be called as "good". However, the viewer made his/her decision and wathced the movie.

Kubrick responded the comments popped up after the movie was on air about the influence of scenes that includes violance as 

" There has always been violence in art. There is violence in the Bible, violence in Homer, violence in Shakespeare, and many psychiatrists believe that it serves as a catharsis rather than a model. "

Maybe this response explains the natural irony situation occurs when audiance wathces the movie. Although the scenes in the movie seems unlikely with the world which we live, which purified like a crystal bowl; they are actually concepts within the art and life as Kubrick says. And the concept of, as we watching the movie and not reacting unlike Alex did, is still open for discussion.

One of the main themes of the movie is "free will" The priest says, “When a man cannot choose, he ceases to be a man.”  Before the teraphy, Alex is an individual who takes pleasure from violance before evilness (if needded to be he saves awoman from rape by using violance. He is a guy who can have sex with anyone he wants, he isn't ostricized by the society), enjoying from concepts which makes a human a human as music, animals, sex, art etc. But after the treatment, he transforms into a puppet or a slave who's will is under another's control. In conclusion of those thoughts, one can ask that, "is purification of Alex from violance made him a "good" person?"

Let's talk about some interesting facts about the movie.

-Color orange can often be seen in the movie. When Alex turns back to his home after the teraphy, his father wears an orange shirt and a tie. 

After Alex has beaten up and refuge to the writer's house, the writer wears an orange suit.

Moreover, when Alex faints, his face dropped on to the spaghetti becomes orange.

In the last scene, in the hospital, Alex drinks orange juice and the minister who visits Alex wears orange.

-Number 4 can be seen in the movie often.

Alex's gang has 4 members

In the movies that Alex have watched, always 4 people commit the crime. 

The Jesus statue on Alex's nightstand have 4 Jesus figures.

4 polices beat up Alex.

-In the scene where Alex and his gang saves a girl from rape, on the stage there is a statue of Kurick's head. 

Kubrick -->>

Statue -->>

-This one may goes without saying but let's still mention this. Kubrick puts 2001 A Space Odyssey's record on the scene where Alex hangs out in the market. (By the way, this scene is my all time favourite color usage in a movie)

-As a myth, in the scene where Alex and his gang raids the writer's house; Kubrick told McDowell to randomly dance around and chill. McDowell sang his famous singing in the rain song and danced. Kubrick liked the idea and shot the scene in that way.

-Kubrick wanted the perfection in the scene which police member splits to Alex's face. Because of that, they've splitted poor Alex's face more than 20 times.

- Alex's door password is 9. Also a picture of Beethoven welcomes us when he opens the door. (Kubrick loves details, yes)

-When I was watching the movie, I related Alex with the Joker character. Also, Heath Ledger said that he was inspired by Alex character while he was playing Joker. I also related Alex with Willy Wonka character but I don't know any facts about this relation.

- The simpsons has a parodi for A Clockwork Orange called "A Clockwork Yellow"

-Of course Southpark as well has a parodi for A Clockwork Orange. The name of the episode is, "Coon 2: Hindsight"

A small part

Full Episode

-Alex's fastforwaded and classic music on the background sex-scene is actually 28 minutes. It had shot as a single shot. (It was one of the most beautiful art scene I've ever watched)

-The name comes from "an automatic man". Orange means man in a language and clockwork means automatic.

-Aaand the musics.. The musics which make "A Clockwork Orange", "A Clockwork Orange". It is the first movie which uses dolby music systems from beginning to end. I'd like to share the musics that I liked during the movie.

• Beethoven 9. Symphony -> spotify
•  March From Music for the Funeral of Queen Mary -> spotify
•  singin' in the rain -> spotify
•  william tell overture - finale -> spotify

*The pictures are my snapshots from Netflix.