And there’s the notorious scene the place Alex sings the title tune from a sure well-known Hollywood musical as he and his gang brutally assault a middle-aged author and his spouse. Kubrick presents the sheer atrocities of Alex and his gang together with his personal chilly and indifferent demeanor, and that makes this scene all of the extra stunning – particularly when Alex gleefully stares on the creator (and us) proper earlier than raping the creator’s spouse. Thankfully, the movie doesn’t present every part, however the horror of what’s going to quickly occur to the poor girl is kind of visceral for us, and we come to really feel extra repulsion than earlier than.
However as mirrored in its first-person narrative, the movie additionally appears to drive us into Alex’s sociopathic perspective. When it often conforms to what he indifferently and sadistically revels in, the movie usually finds itself on the verge of embracing his repulsive ugliness, and thus feels dangerously thrilling at occasions. Violence in movie is, by its very nature, stimulating in a technique or one other, and even Kubrick can not fairly comprise the creative hazard.
Throughout its center act, the movie tries to argue that Alex’s particular person violence is nothing in comparison with the systemic violence of his dystopian society. Not lengthy after he’s finally arrested after which imprisoned, he occurs to be chosen for an experimental rehabilitation undertaking promoted by the federal government, and one other iconic second of the movie happens. By means of a extremely twisted Pavlovian process, he’s stripped of his free will in trade for being rendered nearly incapable of any type of violence, after which finds himself uncovered to an amazing deal upon his launch from jail.
Ought to we really feel sorry for Alex at that time? What is finished to him is really merciless, however we’re additionally reminded of what a horrible felony he’s. When his “cured” standing is introduced in entrance of a bunch of necessary figures, he appears pitiful and helpless on the floor, however he isn’t deceiving us in any respect. We will clearly sense that his violent nature nonetheless exists behind his seemingly passive face regardless of being artificially suppressed to this point, and we get to observe his subsequent state of affairs from a distance with out a lot pity or care.