Stanley Kubrick’s ‘A Clockwork Orange’ in the words of the people who made it
Stanley Kubrick’s A Clockwork Orange is an undeniable piece of cinematic history. That doesn’t mean it’s to everyone’s tastes, but it’s certainly earned its place in the pantheon of cinematic masterpieces. Just as everyone has different views about the 1971 effort, A Clockwork Orange seems to have meant something different to almost everyone who helped bring it to life, whether that be lead actor Malcolm McDowell, poster designer Phillip Castle or Kubrick himself.
Adapted from Anthony Burgess’ dystopian novel of the same name, Kubrick’s A Clockwork Orange blends state-of-the-nation documentary filmmaking with science-fiction dystopia to great effect. This continually unnerving and prescient film tells the story of Alex, the leader of a murderous adolescent gang known as The Droogs. We join him as he navigates a dismal version of post-war England, where he seduces, murders and rapes his way into state-sanctioned incarceration. After being conditioned to abhor violence, he is returned to normal society, where he is left to be abused by his prior victims.
According to Kubrick, “The central idea of the film has to do with the question of free will. Do we lose our humanity if we are deprived of the choice between good and evil? Do we become, as the title suggests, A Clockwork Orange? Recent experiments in conditioning and mind control on volunteer prisoners in America have taken this question out of the realm of science-fiction.” On release, A Clockwork Orange proved immensely divisive. It faced criticism not only for its unflinching depictions of rape but for its possible negative influence on impressionable youth. Responding to such criticisms, Kubrick had only this to say: “No work of art has ever done social harm, though a great deal of social harm has been done by those who have sought to protect society against works of art which they regarded as dangerous.”
For Malcolm McDowell, however, watching A Clockwork Orange once was enough. Speaking at the BFI ahead of its re-release, the actor, who played Alex, said: “To be honest, I really couldn’t really stomach watching it again. I mean, give me a break here. It’s still the same movie. It may look a little sharper, the colour [might] be a little brighter, but it’s still the same movie. But listen, I’m thrilled to be a part of it. I mean, my god, it’s cinema history. Not many actors in their careers can have such an experience.
He continued to bemoan the film’s enduring popularity, adding: “A lot of times it’s been at some festival, and I’m stuck watching it. The last time I was stuck watching it was a the Cannes Film Festival, sitting next to one of the head honchos of Warner Bros. because we were celebrating the 40th anniversary. Thank god we don’t have to go to Cannes because I’d be stuck up there watching it again.” One wonders if McDowell’s resistance to watching the film has something to do with the fact he was forced to spend weeks watching ultraviolent movies with Stanley Kubrick before principal photography began. “I spent nine months with Stanley before we started shooting, watching violent movies every day,” the actor told The Guardian. “They were the most horrendous films: concentration camps, bodies stacked up. He was thinking of using them in the treatment sequence, where Alex is given aversion therapy.”
Things didn’t get much better when the shoot began. Describing one particularly miserable day on set, McDowell recalled: “In the scene where I’m being worked over by the police, the probation officer, played by Aubrey Morris, was supposed to spit on me. Poor old Aubrey ran out of saliva, so Steven Berkoff, playing a cop, said: ‘Don’t worry, I’ve got some.’ He brought up the most hideous lurgies. Stanley asked: ‘Can you get it on his nose?’ Berkoff says: ‘Yeah!’ We did so many takes, what with Stanley not accepting anything less than 100%. He wanted it to dribble down just right, to be totally humiliating. Obviously, I was a bit pissed off.”
Poster designer Philip Castle had a far easier ride. He worked with Kubrick after the first rough cut of A Clockwork Orange had been cobbled together in the editing suite. “I was impressed – with such a violent subject, you didn’t expect to see such terrific photography,” Castle said of this early version. “There was so much pictorial gold to choose from. I sketched a few images from the film and then came up with the big capital “A”. After experimenting with a few concepts, I realised the key feature should be Alex with the knife.”
Castle was paid £650 for his work on the poster; that’s £9,500 in today’s money – no small fee. Of course, for Castle, the real reward was seeing his poster plastered everywhere. “In the press, on the underground, on billboards. It was often next to another poster of mine for Ken Russell’s The Boy Friend, which was a turnaround in my career. I didn’t think the poster was as great as people made out, but it’s certainly had a good run.”
A Clockwork Orange remains one of Kubrick’s most revered and scandalous films. Over 50 years later, it is still just as shocking as it was the day it was released. Here’s to another half-century.