helterskelter.ca

A Clockwork Orange.
more Stanley Kubrick.
way more Helter Skelter.

December 19, 1971 - 2021: 50 years of: A Clockwork Orange.

Ready for a bit of the ol' ultra-violence ?

Witty, funny, satiric, musical, exciting, bizarre, political, thrilling, frightening, metaphorical, comic, sardonic, exciting, Beethoven.

More then a mere movie, but an alienting diary of Britain's mid 60s downfall and apocalyptic eco-system. The darkside of the counterculture, the darkside of the inner cities and the darkside of a very dystopian England.

Hop in the Durango '95 and live through Stanley Kubrick's foresight as the lower-class, the middle-class and the upper-class all get dissected under the microscope. From trashy back-alleys to the medical wonders, from political parties to street-gangs, from socialism to communism, all of their agendas are fully exposed and left to rot under the sun.

The entire spectrum of human-senses, from brutal bloody beatings to ecstatic erotic artwork, A Clockwork Orange's mindset is sadly not only akin to The United Kingdom, but to modern society itself. Reverse psychology, operant conditioning and reassignment of reptilian behavior, all of this inner-madness was laid way before the punk craze of the late 70s. Premonition or destiny of the super-nation ...the system doesn't work, for everyone.

From Third Reich horror visions to twisted Europa-union, one cannot disregard the power-hunger totalitarian correlations this clever narration underlines. One chilling line stands tall, where the Minister Of The Interior openly says to the Prison Governor: "The Government can't be concerned any longer with outmoded penological theories. Soon we may be needing all of our prison space for political offenders".

Dire slums and suave space-age sights, A Clockwork Orange is a supernova for both esthetics and architectures. Ice-cold 60s brutalism and ice-cold 60s conservatism, this visual odyssey is a feast of the highest delights. On the audio-front, the atomic architectural assault is led by Walter Carlos. Fully present in the mix, the immortal art of Ludwig Van and maestro Gioachino Rossini are futurized and becomes the unsung hero / villain of this 136min multi-layered avantgarde masterpiece. Kubrick insisted that Beethoven's "Symphony No. 9" and specifically the "Ode To Joy" segment be used for obvious grandiose reasons. See also preceding paragraph.

Written by Anthony Burgess in 1962, his novel was pushed into overdrive with Kubrick behind the lens. It rapidly gained a cult following, that grew from fans to rabid copy-cat fanatics. Random beatings aside, from Halloween costumes to rock-videos and from black and white dichotomy to underground street-slang:

A Clockwork Orange is way beyond mere poetic fantasies and hierarchical-struggles,
A Clockwork Orange is a microcosm within a macrocosm,
A Clockwork Orange is daily,
A Clockwork Orange is us !

A Clockwork Orange is society - society is A Clockwork Orange.

"...have another glass !"

RIP Basil (1971)
RIP Thomas Farrell AKA tramp (1893-1975)
RIP Michael Bates AKA Chief Officer Barnes (1920-1978)
RIP Patrick Magee AKA Mr. Alexander (1922-1982)
RIP Anthony Sharp AKA Minister (1915-1984)
RIP Michael Gover AKA Prison Governor (1913-1987)
RIP Madge Ryan AKA Dr. Branom (1919-1994)
RIP Sheila Raynor AKA Mum (1906-1998)
RIP Stanley Kubrick (1928-1999)
RIP Philip Stone AKA Dad (1924-2003)
RIP Miriam Karlin AKA catlady (1925-2011)
RIP Margaret Tyzack AKA Conspirator (1931-2011)
RIP Warren Clarke AKA Dim (1947-2014)
RIP Aubrey Morris AKA Deltoid (1926-2015)
RIP Adrienne Corri AKA Mrs. Alexander (1931-2016)
RIP Gerald Fox AKA Dr. Brodsky (1923-2018)
RIP David Prowse AKA Julian (1935-2020)
*
A Clockwork Orange = movie trailer
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9JIc_1v7i88
Thamesmead: A town for the 21st Century
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ov2btkixcAc
On location
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HGOA6_hSMJY
On location 2
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QadgZenqr8U
The best of Chief Officer Barnes
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OARVGVv8HdY
Malcolm McDowell on 50 years of A Clockwork Orange
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E10phvyF8Sw
Gene Kelly's Singing In The Rain
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D1ZYhVpdXbQ
some guy
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xeoJzSq7S00