A Clockwork Orange

"4 stars out of 4"

Yes, I know I had said in my previous post that my next post was going to be about Mean Streets, but since I just watched the one at hand and took comprehensive notes of it, it is more doable to write about it than Mean Streets, which needs more tweaks...or better yet to say "actually writing something" rather than edits!

I also watched Raging Bull last week at Amherst Cinema, which made it to the top of my list of favorite Scorsese movies...but I'll leave that to another post as well.

I had never watched a Kubrick movie, for the sake of it being a "Kubrick" movie before or hadn't paid attention to the director as a matter of fact. I had seen Full Metal Jacket when I was a kid and my brother was watching it and as you would agree it's not a kids movie! I just have images of soldiers training and singing while running (vividly remember a trivia I learned that day by my brother or dad explaining it has a motivational or kind of a regulatory effect in their training!) and some violent scenes here and there, namely...well...the one you probably know if you have seen the movie!

And then there was Shining...well, it was SHINING! And it had Jack Nicholson in it which is just another reason for watching it. I believe that there is a "Zidane" in every category in art, and in life for that matter. Let me elaborate. There is a Gold Standard if you will. No one can dispute the fact that they were great or they didn't enjoy them. For example, in this case, I am almost 100% positive that you wouldn't find one person in this world who hasn't enjoyed watching Zidane play. Then there are other players who you can discuss on being a fan of. Or take Azerbaijani singers for instance. There is Reshid Behbudov, then there are others! So is the case with Nicholson.

Anyway! Me and my digression, right?! I am fighting the urge of rambling on about things dancing in my mind, making their way into my fingers.

So, as I was saying I had yet to discover the works of Kubrick, namely A Clockwork Orange and 2001 (which is in my to-watch list...how shameful!).

The movie starts by showing the face that went on to be one of the iconic images of the movie world. The leader of a neo-Nazi-like, justice-making, not-so-law-abiding, outlaws (whose costumes reminded me of Stormtroopers!). As I wrote down these descriptions while watching the movie, kept wondering whether I was right or was suffering of ignorance. But mid-movie found out that me calling them to neo-Nazis shouldn't be out of place as they were wearing armbands, resembling that of Nazis.

This is an unconventional film of a very familiar issue that has persisted over time and has become more and more intolerable and has taken over the world, accelerating in the second half of the 20^th century and getting more and more powerful, well into the 21^st. But probably started by the time this movie was made (when I compare it with the Iranian revolution back then and how people react now).

Although the movie has been made over 40 years ago but I could relate to it. It has become a part of our culture hasn’t it? It is a global culture but I witness it more in Iranians…sitting in our couches (now with the digital age), slouched behind our computers, having criticizing everyone and everything out there as our indisputable right, and yet not doing one positive thing about it. And that’s not the main issue…our biggest problem is that these people think they are right…which is a horrifying fact!

I think there is probably no other director who has broken the taboos and stomped upon the conventions of the society, and in a bigger picture that of life’s, as much as Kubrick.

As for acting, a neurotic, unrestrained performance was exactly what this movie needed and the lead actor was able to deliver it to perfection. So I praise Kubrick in wisely choosing him to play this role.

My favorite part of this movie was the scene where he was arrested and now that I think about it, all the scenes where he spent time in prison.

He tells the officer his crime with a smirk on his face and another horrifying reality is how the officer reacts to it, the same as all the officers of the world...acknowledging it without any reaction…it has become a ritual! And yet giving attention to the details that don’t really matter compared with other things, like how he puts his belongings in front of the official. Or where the thing that catches the patrol's eyes is not the row of pictures of naked women on the wall but the picture of Beethoven where he gives it a curious look. Or they decide to punish the not-so-guilty and reward the guilty to save face.

I just watched a documentary called Propaganda, made in North Korea apparently, showing how imperialism and capitalism try to distract us from the issues that our societies face (of course as one of my friends mentioned, is ironic coming from North Koreans!).

One of the other prison scenes that I found interesting was where he talked about his interest in the old book and while he tells this you think to yourself that he must be repenting, but then we find out that a soul is not that easy to change, not with a rather short time in prison listening to preaches, as we find out that he had been picturing himself as a Roman soldier torturing Jesus, rather than being Jesus himself.

Or where he tells him "sign it, don't read it!", when they are having him sign a consent form...nothing has changed, has it?! I was reading an article a few days back about how no one reads the "I agree to terms and conditions" part of anything nowadays (who would, with the long list of liability consents!), and they can sneak in terms that would benefit them without anyone knowing. Again...propaganda-like situation hear...they want dumb, deaf, blind, obedient citizens who they can control. Having a Matrix-like society where they feed you but are unaware of what is REALLY happening.

This movie mocks the judiciary system. The way they try to discipline inmates through ineffective ways mainly because they are inanimate, apathetic, so called humans, calling them by numbers instead of using their names...they have turned to machines, trying every inhuman means to discipline and bring justice, that is doomed to fail, unless they find the "human" within themselves first.

Again, changing the mindset and soul is not easy. Where they show him the movies and they assume that it would make him reflect on the crimes he's committed, he was paying attention to the technical aspects of the movie rather than the morals. Because, say beating, was what normal in his eyes...what needed to be changed.

Where the priest (angel) was on his right shoulder and the doctor (evil) on his left, the long debated matter of "moral choice" is discussed. Is conditioning the way to do it? How effective would it be? What difference would it make when you take out the ability to sin out of the picture? Yes, you would probably lower the rate of crime but what value is there in not sinning then? Resisting the temptation is what's rewarding.

There is no black and white in this movie. It's not like Alex (the main character) is the ultimate "bad" guy and the society is good and he is doing them wrong. Everyone in this movie is guilty to the same extent, as we can all be wrong-doers, given the "right" circumstances. In a way it keeps bringing And Justice for All and Seven to mind! But does he know he's done anything wrong...how he keeps referring to himself as "humble" narrator?

By the way, the scene where the priest was preaching brought the memory of The Prince in Waiting (by John Christopher) to my mind, for some reason! In that book the world had suffered a massive apocalypse-like incidence, caused by machines and they had church-like organizations where they would demonstrate a connection with the dead and after life by...get this...machines! Without people knowing (sounded more interesting when I first wanted to right about it, now seems more confusing! So I left it for those of you who have read the books before, in case you find it interesting too!).

This was an unconventional review which I think suits the movie best. As this movie wasn't released recently and I am sure many of you, my dear followers, have seen it before, it didn't make sense to write one of my usual ones...you know, give a summary of the story, give a yea/nay to directing or acting or say how well it was made...so I decided to write the thoughts that it provoked in me and how it made sense to me.

Can't wait to read its screenplay! The movie had really funny moments which makes it ever more interesting.

P.S.: If you have been my Facebook friend for the past year, you might remember one of the "Culture Shock" statuses I had where I talked about how I had told my American roommate about us getting butt-shots in Iran which she had found really odd, as they get arm shots over here! So, it was good to know that they used to give butt-shots in the first world too! Wouldn't have been much of a culture shock, had I come to the US back in the 70's! Of course, my culture shock back then might have been "what the hell is a shot"?!

[I hope I have written everything that I needed to say in the right order...this is no good excuse but I am really sleepy and am in no mood to go over the post and edit it! I am sure you'll find it in your hearts to have me excused.]