According to the British actor, not everyone understood the message hidden in this classic from the seventies
In 1971, Stanley Kubrick brought to the screen a rather controversial production –although in the future he would reject a film for being too distressing and controversial, too– and even, a bit demonized due to its level of violence. However, according to the opinion of its protagonist, Malcolm McDowell, the problem does not lie in the content, but in the interpretation it received, since from his perspective the scenes of aggression are so exaggerated, that it should not have been taken seriously as they were.
What is A Clockwork Orange about?
The story revolves around A rebellious young man lacking morals and leader of a street gang called the Droogs. Played by Malcolm McDowell, Alex DeLarge is a 15-year-old delinquent who knows no bounds when it comes to satisfying his bloodthirsty appetites. Consumed by drugs and sex, the boy skips school and spends his time leading his group on brutal misadventures.
Alex's motivation is his ability to destroy the world. Together with the rest of the Droogs, he faces other gang members, attacks helpless people and even invades homes in the city to commit sexual assaults.
The plot presents a chaotic character, a mind immersed in a labyrinth of depravity and loses control to the rhythm of Beethoven's Ninth Symphony. Listening to this piece of music, in his imagination, Alex may feel like a joyful vampire, while when he reads the New Testament, he feels a kind of affinity with the Roman soldiers who were in charge of torturing Christ.
Mixed opinions
Since its premiere, A Clockwork Orange has generated different opinions, even within specialized critics. While Some critics claim that Kubrick advocates violence. While presenting a boy with a personality bright and funny enough to generate empathy, for others the production is tragic and too brutal. While McDowell's performance and the construction of the plot make Alex attractive, he is far from being the classic jovial and charismatic teenager.
In this sense, The British actor believes that the production has been misinterpreted. Indeed, A Clockwork Orange It is indeed violent, but it is a satirical and unrealistic type of violence, so it should have generated laughter, and caused less shock.
Unexpected answers
During the interview given to the ScreenRant in 2021, McDowell admitted to being surprised by the reaction of the spectatorsFrom his point of view, few understood that raising the level of violence to the extreme was a way of making it understood that it is a completely satirical story, there are no slow motion sequences or exploited bodies that make the experience intolerable.
Without a doubt, your opinion is supported by the fact that It is necessary to take into account the context of the film before passing judgment. The actor emphasized that more than psychological, the production is violent from an artificial perspective, so it can easily be considered a comedy. slapstickwith a special touch of aggression and touching on the subject of moral depravity.
Advertising has a lot to do with the public's reaction
He also highlighted what happens with villains in the world of cinema, who, upon reaching popularity, become fashion icons, leaving the actions carried out in their fictional world forgotten. A clear example of this is Darth Vader; it is easy to find action figures and stuffed animals of this character in Disneyland, ignoring the fact that we are talking about a Machiavellian mind that used the Death Star to annihilate millions of people.
Probably, MacDowell's refusal to sell out influenced the receptivity from the audience and from critics. At the time, the actor rejected a million-dollar offer because he did not want to make a milk commercial as the character.
Although there is no official version on the matter, there was a latent possibility of associating Alex DeLarge with the dairy company, since in the film the boy drinks milk, only he does so combined with drugs that drive him to carry out his worst violent acts.
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