full title A Clockwork Orange

director Stanley Kubrick

leading actor Malcolm McDowell

supporting actors/actresses Michael Bates, Warren Clarke, Carl Duerring, Paul Farrell, Clive Francis, Michael Gover, Miriam Karlin, Patrick Magee, James Marcus, Aubrey Morris, Sheila Raynor, Godfrey Quigley, Anthony Sharp, Philip Stone

type of work Feature film

genre Science Fiction/Fantasy

language English/Slang

time and place produced England, 1960s

awards

 · 1971 Academy Awards:
 · Nominated, Best Picture (Stanley Kubrick)
 · Nominated, Best Director (Stanley Kubrick)
 · Nominated, Best Screenplay (Stanley Kubrick)
 · Nominated, Best Film Editing (Bill Butler)
 · 1971 New York Film Critics’ Circle:
 · Winner, Best Picture (Stanley Kubrick)
 · Winner, Best Director (Stanley Kubrick)
 · Nominated, Best Screenplay (Stanley Kubrick)
 · 1971 Golden Globes
 · Nominated, Best Director (Stanley Kubrick)
 · 1971 Directors Guild of America
 · Nominated, Best Director (Stanley Kubrick)
 · 1972 British Academy Awards
 · Winner, Best Director (Stanley Kubrick)

date of release 1971

producer Warner Brothers

setting (time) The future

setting (place) A major English city

protagonist Alex

major conflict Society’s desire for order and control conflicts with society’s values of individualism and individual choice

rising action The first half of the film shows Alex wreaking havoc on society, getting arrested, and then being physically reconditioned against his own violent impulses as a condition of his release.

climax Alex is released from prison and finds he is too weak to survive in human society. He has gone from victimizer to victim.

falling action While Alex is in a coma, doctors condition him back to his true nature. During his recovery, the minister of the interior visits Alex in the hospital and they agree to become accomplices in sharing power.

themes Order in society vs. freedom of choice; the necessity of evil in human nature; the interdependence of life and art

motifs Sexual aggression; music; slang

symbols The Korova Milk Bar; sex and the body in art; Ludwig van Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony

foreshadowing The events in the first half of A Clockwork Orange foreshadow the events in the second half. The characters Alex victimizes in the first half all come back to victimize him. As the second half of the film starts and we see this pattern occurring, we begin to predict the sequence of events that follow.

Previous section Symbols

Popular pages: A Clockwork Orange

Take a Study Break