Stanley Kubricks A Clockwork Orange Activity PDF

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Activity No. 2Watch Stanley Kubrick’s “A Clockwork Orange” and then write an analysis of the said film. Please be warned that Clockwork Orange is an R-18 movie. It contains scenes of violence, sex, nudity and drugs. Make sure that there are no minors around when you are watching this film. Fill out ...

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Activity No. 2

Watch Stanley Kubrick’s “A Clockwork Orange” and then write an analysis of the said film. Please be warned that Clockwork Orange is an R-18 movie. It contains scenes of violence, sex, nudity and drugs. Make sure that there are no minors around when you are watching this film. Fill out the required information and answer the essay questions included in the form. This assignment should be less than 1,500 words.

FILM ANALYSIS Film Title: A Clockwork Orange Year of Release: 1971 Genre: Dystopian crime film Lead Actors: Malcolm McDowell, Patrick Magee, Michael Bates Adapted from: A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess Director: Stanley Kubrick Setting: England

Main Characters and their Attributes: 

Alex Alex is the protagonist and narrator of A Clockwork Orange. Every word on the page belongs to him, and we get a glimpse into his life through the emotions

he describes and the pain he goes through. He's both generic and special, mindless and thoughtful, consciously evil and innocently likeable. 

F. Alexander A political dissident and journalist. F. Alexander's wife is raped by Alex's gang and dies as a result. Following his wife's death, he devotes his life to deposing the government, which he claims is partly to blame for his wife's death.

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Minister of the Interior A well-dressed, dignified gentleman. His main concern is the welfare of the state, and he takes a realistic approach. He is a high-ranking government official who selects Alex as the first candidate for Ludovico’s Technique.

Theme: Violence, Dystopian Future, Youth Culture and Moral Choice

Conflict: Alex stands up to the State, which is attempting to limit his rights by mentally robbing him of his ability to make free decisions.

Resolution: Alex is suddenly returned to his old self. While he is recovering in the hospital, the Minister of the Interior pays him a visit and presents him with a new stereo. Alex's eyeballs roll upward in their sockets like those of some fool doll as the Fourth Movement from Beethoven's Ninth Symphony fills the soundtrack, and we share another one of

Alex's sado-masochistic sex fantasies for a brief moment. While the handsomely dressed ladies and gentlemen applaud in silence and boredom, he is thrashing about in the turf at Ascot, forcefully putting the old in-out to another powerless, faceless woman. The music suddenly stops, and Alex triumphantly declares that he has been cured.

Plot Summary: Alex DeLarge, the Ludwig van Beethoven fan and leader of an anarchic quartet of thugs, has been sentenced to fourteen years in prison for an unrestrained life of sex, crime, and murder in the mean streets of futuristic Britain. As a result, the onceswaggering juvenile inmate has the opportunity to earn his freedom by engaging in the government's groundbreaking de-conditioning program, which aims to flush one's negative anti-social tendencies from one's mind after two years in prison.

Explain why the title was chosen for the film/story: As many critics have mentioned, Burgess's title is inspired by the Cockney expression "queer as a clockwork orange" ("queer" meaning "strange" or "unusual"). The film seems to imply that wild oranges, like Alex himself, are living things that should be allowed to grow in natural and unpredictable ways. The title refers to the methods by which the prison system denies Alex DeLarge, the film's hyper violent protagonist, his right to free will. The film seems to lament the fact that there are no responsible authority figures to help guide the youth toward constructive efforts and away from thoughtless violence.

Identify symbolisms in the film and discuss their relevance to the story: 

Milk Milk, as a product that mainly nourishes young animals, represents the immaturity and passivity of those who drink it at the Korova Milkbar on a regular basis. Their milk consumption hints at the state's people' infantilization and resulting helplessness. Milk also symbolizes uniformity among the adolescents who drink it because of its whiteness and homogenization.

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Darkness and Night A Clockwork Orange's settings are always either very dark—winter evenings, enclosed clubs—or very bright, such as the blindingly white building where Alex is treated. Alex's domain is darkness. Darkness shields him from the consequences of his violent actions.

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Lightness and Day For Alex, the daytime and sunlight are dangerous. During the day, Alex notices that there are several more repressive police officers patrolling. The harsh lights of the interrogation room at the police station produce an artificial day, and the doctors' white jackets continue the theme of visibility being associated with danger and menace.

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Music For Alex, beauty is found in classical music and especially in the symphonic works of Ludwig van Beethoven, whose music bridges the classical and romantic periods.

Explain the ending of the film: The ending provides closure to movie. In fact, this is the part where our protagonist-narrator experiences growth, or more profoundly, personal transformation. In reality, given his newfound frustration with violence and violent music, as well as his desire to start a family, we'd say Alex is fully grown up.

Explain the moral of the film: The moral of the story is that an individual's actions can have a significant effect on society. Alex would have been cared for by this author during his recovery if he had never abused the author and his wife in the first place. This portion of the plot is a direct reference to the power of karma to some extent. Alex's terrible actions in the past have brought him in a terrible situation that has caused him to attempt suicide. His acts have also turned someone that had a positive impact on society and could have been of great assistance to him into someone who is angry and wanting revenge.

Explain why the film is related to ethics (specify the topics/principles/theories involved): 

Morality and Ethics The central message of A Clockwork Orange seems to be that the freedom to evil choose is fundamental to mankind. Indeed, this element of moral choice distinguishes humans from machines and robots.

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Fate and Free Will

A Clockwork Orange raises the question of whether people are destined for their fate or whether free will and external circumstances will influence their outcomes. Alex claims that humans are born evil and that they must be cultivated in order to prevent being evil. Humans are born nice, according to F. Alexander, but are corrupted by society and culture. The government insists that the state's stability is more important than its people' happiness, and in the name of stability, it is willing to eradicate moral choice. 

Good vs. Evil In A Clockwork Orange, the conflict between good and evil becomes more complex, as the novel depicts a struggle between forced good and chosen evil.

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Manipulation The government would go to any length to ensure its own survival —as well as the state's stability. To that end, it uses questionable scientific methods to convince its people to become moral role models. Behavioral adjustment by associative learning is the manipulation technique used on Alex.

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Power The government tries to suppress individuals and free choice in the name of maintaining the state's stability, which is largely for its own survival. The government is willing to go to any length to protect people, including distributing propaganda and surveillance, using morally

questionable scientific methods to reform criminals, and hiring criminals as state patrol to protect other citizens....