Stuff

Kubrick had made 2001, and was under pressure to make an on-budget film in a reasonable time. So he picked the novel A Clockwork Orange and this is what we have.

There’s so much stuff written about this film and its effects on the world. The truth is, some people already motivated to violence used it as an excuse. We rather think Alex might have done the same.

The film put Thamesmead on the map, and actually it’s not better now than it was then, probably worse. It feels like an abandoned area of London.

The film was withdrawn in the UK (not banned) and current versions are slightly different from the one we saw in Leicester Square when it came out. We have a rather odd book of the script illustrated by black and white frames from the film, and there are definitely some differences.

It’s a dated film, funny in parts, but with a very interesting score. There is violence, of course, but nothing really terrible. It’s definitely not gory.

Kubrick’s look at the Vietnam war, and definitely not a comedy.

We saw this on the first Saturday it was out in the UK at the old Warner’s cinema in Leicester Square. In the audience was a whole gang of US marines who were cheering and clapping the whole way through the first part, the training. They clearly recognised everything depicted there.

Matthew Modine does what he has to do as our anti-hero. R Lee Ermey carries the first part. But the real star is the old and abandoned gasworks in Beckton, now long gone (so save yourself a journey). But we do remember seeing them.

Some parts of the film are cringeworthy, like when Joker is challenged about his Peace symbol.

Great music though.

While reminding myself of these Kubrick films, I re-watched The Killing with a friend. “Oh, it’s so hard to follow”, she said, “it keeps jumping back and forward in time.”

Well, it does do a little of that, to make it easier to follow. But it’s not hard, and scenes are repeated to show how the bits link up.

This is a 1950s black and white B movie, a robbery at a race track. You know it’s a B movie from the budget, running time (80 minutes or so) and familiar faces in the cast (Elisha Cook Jr., Timothy Carey, Ted de Corsia and so on).

The story rattles on, and it doesn’t end well. And it features a narration.

For us, this is the first of Kubrick’s film that bears repeated watching.