A Clockwork Orange

Stanley Kubrick’s A Clockwork Orange is a movie that you will never forget. Now whether or not that is a bad thing is up to the viewer. For me, I watched this movie a couple years ago because I had always heard of it and had recently taken a film history class and was adamant to watch as many “important” movies as possible. So, I rented A Clockwork Orange, not knowing what to expect, and ended watching it feeling confused, uncomfortable, and a little disheartened. What a sad world this movie depicts. I understand the importance of this movie and other dismal futuristic tales. Many would argue that the culture of our youth today is much more aggressive, sexualized, and desensitized. This movie, adapted from a book by Anthony Burgess, sees a future world where ultra-violence becomes the norm and turmoil and anarchy reigns supreme.

One of the most unsettling scenes in this movie is where Alex and his gang beat up an elderly author and rape his wife while signing the song Singing in the Rain. I was researching online the reason behind choosing this specific song for this scene. I found out that actor Malcolm McDowell started singing this song spontaneously during rehearsals. Warner Bros. immediately secured the rights to this song to be used in this production after hearing McDowell sing.

Even though McDowell singing this particular song was spontaneous, the choice for the director and producers to include this song was a real choice. I believe this song was used to connect to the audience. This movie was made in 1961 only 9 years after Singing in the Rain was released. So almost everyone who went to see this movie in the theater had probably seen Singing in the Rain. Suddenly this movie becomes a possible reality rather than a depressing unrealistic piece of fiction.