Rare behind the scenes images of Stanley Kubrick’s ‘A Clockwork Orange’
A Clockwork Orange, Stanley Kubrick’s 1971 dystopian cult crime film, needs no introduction. The director, basing his film on Anthony Burgess’ novel of the same name, rocked the film industry with his use of disturbing, violent, psychotic images.
“A social satire dealing with the question of whether behavioural psychology and psychological conditioning are dangerous new weapons for a totalitarian government to use to impose vast controls on its citizens and turn them into little more than robots,” Kubrick once in Saturday Review when asked to describe the film. “It is a story of the dubious redemption of a teenage delinquent by condition-reflex therapy. It is, at the same time, a running lecture on free will,” he continued.
The film was met with initial fury as its controversial and explicit sexual scenes were deemed too extreme for cinema. Despite initially being passed for UK cinema in December 1971, the film was withdrawn from British release in 1973 by Warner Brothers at the request of Kubrick in response to allegations that the film was responsible for copycat violence.
Following the release of A Clockwork Orange, Kubrick was banned from England and received death threats. It was those threats that forced the pioneering director to leave the country and find new locations to film. “The screen is a magic medium. It has such power that it can retain interest as it conveys emotions and moods that no other art form can hope to tackle,” Kubrick said in reaction.
And his words rang true. Despite the controversy, the film went on to dominate awards season, which saw it up for Best Picture at the Oscars before eventually losing out to The French Connection.
Who wrote A Clockwork Orange?
A Clockwork Orange was written by the British author Anthony Burgess, a truly prolific writer who composed several novels, essays and plays throughout his career. His works often examined the themes of morality, society and language, but A Clockwork Orange remains his most famous yet controversial work.
Burgess had been interested in youth culture, psychology, and linguistics when he set about writing A Clockwork Orange. The book features a slang manner of speaking called Nadsat, inspired by the Russian language. Throughout the novel, Burgess explores the nature of free will, the existence of evil and the morality of societal control.
What is A Clockwork Orange about?
A Clockwork Orange is a text of dystopian literature that explores themes of morality, evil, free will and societal control. Taking place in a near-distant future, the book focuses on a young delinquent called Alex, who engages in acts of violence and hedonism with his friends, whom he affectionately refers to as his “droogs”.
After being apprehended by the authorities for his crimes, Alex is forced to undergo an experimental form of aversion therapy called the Ludovico technique, which results in him feeling incredibly nauseous whenever he sees or thinks about violence. Burgess’ novel examines the ethical reasoning behind controlling someone’s behaviour through such means.
Starring the likes of Malcolm McDowell, Adrienne Corri, Patrick Magee, Michael Bates and Warren Clarke, we dive behind the scenes at the making of one of the world’s most iconic cult films.
Enjoy images of the film in the clip below.
