Posted on 09/21/2021 10:59:26 AM PDT by Cronos
In a recent interview, veteran actor Malcolm McDowell has revealed he cannot stomach rewatching his 1971 dystopian crime film, A Clockwork Orange. The film was adapted from Anthony Burgess's 1962 novel about a disturbingly violent gang of youths in an alternate near-future Britain. McDowell played the violent delinquent Alex DeLarge in the infamous and controversial film directed by Stanley Kubrick.
It follows Alex, leader of his gang known as the Droogs. Following a series of drug-induced fights with another gang and various disturbing and brutal assaults, Alex is arrested and imprisoned for his crimes, before being subjected to an experimental form of therapy to make him averse to his former violence. A Clockwork Orange celebrates its 50th anniversary this year with a 4K rerelease, but originally, the film was met with bans upon its release due to the levels of violence and brutality on screen, an aspect which its star still struggles with.
McDowell revealed that he still finds it difficult to rewatch, stating that he cannot stomach sitting through the film despite the time that has passed. McDowell elaborated that despite any updates in quality the film might have received, it still holds the same violent content that made the film infamous upon its release, though he is proud of the impact it has made since last time he watched the film was during a screening at the Cannes Film Festival to celebrate its 40th Anniversary alongside Warner Bro's executives, before saying how glad he was that he could avoid similar screenings for the latest milestone.
...Despite becoming a film of historical significance , A Clockwork Orange had a complex and controversial history. Upon release, the film was met by polarizing reviews for its depictions of graphic violence and sexual assault, as well as condemnation from different groups,
(Excerpt) Read more at screenrant.com ...
The movie was written and directed by Stanley Kubrick. Calling the movie "his", in regards to Malcolm McDowell, seems a bit of an overstatement.
The following would have been accurate:
Malcolm McDowell has revealed he cannot stomach rewatching Stanley Kubrick's 1971 dystopian crime film, in which McDowell starred.
Depends on which version of the book you get. The original British pressing has 21 chapters, the American version only has 20, missing the last chapter in which Alex grows up starts thinking about having kids and leaving his crazy life. For whatever reason Kubrick’s movie is the “American” version even though he was in England at the time and probably had the British pressing.
I love Burgess.
The book was much more focused on the idea that “evil is less evil than not being able to choose evil.”
The movie was more stygian and bleak. It also is unsettling because in the 1970s things didn’t resemble the movie. Now it’s getting quite close.
I encourage everyone to read Burgess’ 1985. It’s basically a critique on 1984, saying that instead England will be destroyed by utilitarian labor unions and Islam.
The book was good - a linguistic treat once you get into the rhythm.
The Mad Magazine version was even better 😁
Because the England of the future in which the story takes place is socialist and Russian is the lingua franca of socialism, the slang used by the kids comes from Russian. "Droogs" comes from the Russian word друг (friend), the bar where they hang out is the Korova (корова--cow), and when they like something, they exclaim that it's "horrorshow" (хорошo--good).
“I could not watch it the first time when it originally came out”
Me, either. I tried to watch it on VHS maybe ten or fifteen years after it came out and turned it off after maybe 30 minutes.
I’m watching “The Pawnbroker” right now based on recommendations here on FR. It’s about a German concentration camp survivor who becomes a pawn broker in NYC after the war. He (Rod Steiger) is a deeply disturbed individual no longer able to love anybody after his experience in the camps. It is about the most melancholy and sad film I’ve seen in a long time.
I walked out during the rape scene.
the movie fades to black... the book turns to a blank.
there you have it.
It made me appreciate Ludwig Vans 9th.
I have that issue.....somewhere....
i like malcom... particularly as HG wells.
I was in London when I saw the movie, and had earlier that day walked through the pedestrian underpass where Alex gets beaten up by the bums.
Note to Nathan Graham: The gang was not named the Droogs; in fact I don’t recall that the gang had a name. They were just some droogs, out for a bit of the old ultra-violence.
I long ago figured out “droog”, but never before noticed the resemblance between “horrorshow” and “harasho”.
Weird and I don’t think I ever watched it all the way through at one sitting.
The novel was very good but Kubrick stunk up the movie, IMO.
Ah, Sting. The only redeeming part of that ‘80s version of ‘Dune’ was seeing Sting die in the end.
Perhaps a bit too harsh. [shrug]
Kubrick is so overrated as a director. The only movie I like is “Spartacus” and supposedly Kirk Douglas took over much of the direction.
Which could explain why I like it.
He goes to the scifi and horror movie festivals a lot, was just in Texas a few weeks ago he’s a really nice guy
I found the movie to be a boring predictable job by a previously great director. His later works were like that.
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