MYST POST #1: A Clockwork Orange
Now I know what you're thinking, "A Clockwork Orange is so weird!" and, "Isn't it a little strange to do it for your first MYST?" and, "Ray Romano's not even that funny in it!"
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Ok the last one was a joke, but in all honesty I'd never seen a Stanley Kubrick film and had always wanted to. And I didn't feel like watching The Shining because I didn't want any Jack Nicholson nightmares during the weekend, and I didn't want to watch 2001: A Space Odyssey because I like an acid trip as much as the next guy, I wasn't in the mood. So I settled on the one that looked like the most accessible to me, the story of a juvenile delinquent set in a 60's idea of futuristic Great Britain, and how far society will go to reform him into a good citizen. I was also interested because later in the year we get to choose from a list of independent books to do a big English report on one of those books, and I've planned to read A Clockwork Orange for mine.
And holy expletive.
The movie is unlike anything I've ever seen. From the 60's ideas of what the future will be, to the constant use of classical music and Beethoven, to the thick and impossible to understand British accents and slang, one thing that I can definitely say is that Kubrick created a fully-fledged world. While although some of the shots and cinematography, music used, and the acting are a bit dated, even those things are still extremely creative at certain points. Like the 1 minute opening shot with narration panning away from an unblinking Malcolm McDowell as the delinquent Alex, sets the tense and sick tone for the whole movie and establishes the character of Alex and what he's like all in the single shot. And other moments like the use of an innocent show tune like, "Singing in the Rain," to contrast against the brutal rape and beating of a simple couple by Alex and his so-called "droogs." A Clockwork Orange serves as a tense thriller, an intense character study, and at times a bitingly funny dark comedy. But the film serves as an awesome piece of commentary on what society might become one day and may already be as a result of adults and governments need to reform and restrict the younger and crazier generations, while also asking questions like how far will our society go to reform.
My only real complaints with the film are some of the dated aspects like some acting and music cues, lulls in the pacing at certain points, some slow/dry yet necessary establishment of his life at home. Other than that the film and its plot kept me for the most part on the edge of my seat, Malcolm McDowell gives an incredible performance as an antihero whom you despise in the beginning and begrudgingly learn to sympathize with over the course of the movie, and the movie is unlike any other movie I've seen (It's also got a fantastic ending). And for that I'm giving it a 4/5 stars.
