I just noticed The Writer's facial expressions and body language when reacting to Alex's singing. It's the same as Alex when Alex hears Beethoven's Symphony Number 9. Shows even though The Writer wasn't subjected to the ludavico technique, he got sick when hearing Singing In The Rain because of what happened to him and his wife. Striking mirror reflection there.
Yep, definitely a trademark Kubrick look though.. the "Kubrick stare".. head downward, eyes up. Private Pyle in FMJ, Jack in The Shining, the Writer here, it's all over his work and it's so awesome! Another tidbit, of course Kubrick remembered how powerful the framing is laying down next to the door..he used it again when Jack is stuck in the pantry in the Shining!
I saw The Writer’s face as the same face he made while his wife was being raped at the beginning of the movie. Because he is hearing the song it triggers his PTSD to assume the same position as when he originally heard the song
MakeupByCovi I felt anxious for Alex in this scene, the realization I had no idea what the writer would do to him and by this point I really felt for Alex lol
It is NOT in the book. But it was not really "improvised", Kubrick asked McDowell if he could sing a bit in the rape scene, and he started to sing this song because it was the only one he knew all the lyrics to. Kubrick rushed to the phone and purchased the rights for the song. He then re-wrote the script to incorporate the song. So, in a way, it was "scripted".
Despite the quiet mood of the scene, this is in fact one of the most terrifying scenes on the movie to me. That facial expression from the writer while hearing that song, remembering the trauma of watching her wife being raped to death... Absolute horror IMO.
This was my favorite change from the book. The singing amplified the heart-wrenching feeling and anxiety of the scene so much!! Another reason why I adore this film.
@@matthewschwartz6607 He did. It wasn't singing in the rain, it was Alex's nadsat slang. It was a slow, creeping realization in the book. He doesn't make some ridiculous face, he starts verbalizing his thoughts and they just start coming faster and faster and getting more and more violent and unhinged as the certainty grows, until he's raving like a lunatic, while his partners in crime try to keep him from straight up murdering this kid they want to use to expose the governments fascist oppressions. He wasn't a wheelchair guy in the book either, he was more than capable of ripping the little bastard limb from limb. It took all four of Alex's droogs to hold him down while Alex raped his wife. Towards the end they say that he had to be imprisoned for Alex's safety; he'd run mad with a butchers knife and was going to joint him like a hog.
Amaura Darthorne I kinda wondered if that was intentional when I saw it the first time! I mean Kubrick was very obviously 100% dedicated to every small detail so it’s probably intentional.
I wonder how many times did it take to get that face the way that Kubrick wanted.We all know that Kubrick was a perfectionalist so it must've been a lot.
serenity6831 I was watching this movie the other day and my mom came into my room and that face showed up and she's like "what the hell are you watching????" I died laughing
+TheJaviferrol Funny you should mention that, Breaking Bad makes a few 'nods' to Stanley Kubrick. There's one episode where a cop radios in and uses the code 'KDK-12'. KDK-12 was the code for the Overlook Hotel in The Shining. Just saying....
Also I love that actors reaction It was like Kubrick told him. “OK I want you to act like you’re having the greatest orgasm of your life while simultaneously Having the worst constipated shit of all time”
I’m realizing this scene is more than just the irony of the song, it’s Alex showing his old true self again, soon as he got to get cozy lol. It seems like Alex, whether subconsciously or consciously, was making sure to delivering the dog-whistle to his crippled victim, which re-asserts power over him. With all the circumstances here, Alex clearly is still void of empathy, not a fixed man, but even raising high in volume when he’s singing it, ensuring it gets into the old man’s earshot from the tub (his VICTIM’s tub in VICTIM’s house, the same victim Alex had crippled previously, and the SAME one who literally saved Alex’s life and made a bath like 15 minutes ago lol. The behavior is so over the line when you gather all the layers of it. If anyone could ever truly BITE the hand that feeds them, well, Alex has definitively bit the hand. I can’t imagine how a more malignant personality could even be imagined. The depth of how vile Alex is, and how vile their dystopia police state is, it’s pretty wild lol. So it doesn’t really look like an accident but more like he’d only continue his subliminal games to just overpower another victim. After all the systematizing of Alex’s min, and the MKULTRA torture, it really goes to show how impermeable Alex’s evil ways are. This film has some seriously disturbing characters man. Talk about DEPTH, psychologically & sociologically. My fav Kubrick film probably, can’t really get over ones like this.
MKULtra- still, most people haven't even heard of it and brand people loony "conspiracy theorists" when pointing to various government and establishment conspiracies- it's conspiracy deniers who live in cloud cuckoo land.
@@griffincobb7216 Alex wasn’t even aware of who the old man was, he just enjoys singing that song and it was unfortunate for them that they had already met each other before.
But part of the point is that he was willing to politically abuse him before he found out he was his wife's rapist and then he was willing to torture him after. He was definitely messed up by Alex, but he's no angel in this story. As much as society likes to try and single out or cure evil, there's enough evil in society itself to make up for it every time.
I love the fact that Alex hit the wall at the same time he hit the couple in the home invasion, it really proves that the experiment didn’t stop his dark thoughts.
Singing 'Singing in the rain' while atacking the writer and his wife was an idea they only came up with last minute while rehearsing the scene, so I wonder how the writer originally found out who he was.
+Esther Van Thielen Seeing as how Alex mentioned that he wore a mask during the attack and how his face is covered by a cloth just above his mouth I would guess that in the book the writer may have wheeled in to check on him, saw the cloth on his face in that position he probably put two and two together. Either that or recognized his voice in a different way.
+Shanethefilmmaker In the book, Alex keeps slipping things (like how he thought the writer didn't have a phone) until the writer gets suspicious. The writer's anti-government friends ask Alex about it, which he basically confirms, and it's implied they told the writer. I don't know what the original plan was for the movie.
Addyson1991 He probably was gonna do something along the lines of the book, but when he saw what Malcolm did he decided to look up psychological triggering and other things related to it.
that's what they all say, yet we have more liberty than ever. Gays can marry, i can smoke weed, we have access to the sum of human knowledge at our fingertips, etc. But we take all of this for granted because we always want more. How much is enough? the west in 2019 is as close to utopia as man has ever or will ever see
When Alex was being tortured by his beloved 9th symphony,the writers expression looks just like the Beethoven statue beside him! Brilliant!! The writers flashback here is well done indeed when he realised finally,who Alex was!!
Gosh dang, you can see the intense trauma the poor old dude when he here's the bathing guy sing Singin' in the Rain. Flashbacks of that previous moment must have hit him real hard 😢
2:35 OMG 😲 One of the most iconic moments, not just in the 20th century, but in the entire length of cinematic history ❗ In my humble opinion, Patrick Magee should have been nominated for an Academy award. in fact, he should have received an Academy Award for best Male Supporting Actor ❗ Really does look like he's having a genuine brain aneurysm ❗ Sadly, Patrick Magee died in 1982 from Myocardial Infarction ( Heart Attack). He was only 60 years old at the time. Sadly, he was a heavy drinker 🍸 🍷 🍺
@@ludovico6890 - Wasn't he a different character in the book? I read that he was crazier in the movie, and a lot saner in the book (I've only read some of the book. I know that Burgess hated the ending of the movie.).
Well, in the book, the writer recognized Alex's use of "Nadsat" slang terminology while talking with him and eventually realized Alex had been the one who had attacked him and his wife. So I suppose the movie might have gone with that, too. Thankfully, the "singing in the rain" scene was thought of and used instead.
Face pulling at the end became a Kubrick trademark. In the Shining Danny does the same thing a couple of times. Also the eye roll look, used by Alex in TCO, and Danny (and Jack) in the Shining, and private Pile in FMJ just before he kills the drill Sargeant.
2:06--2:14--2:36--Imagine: You hear this singing of this song from the day those hooligans broke in and horror comes upon you when you realize that the man that broke in was the one who sexually assaulted your wife. He was horror stricken by the memory that made him shaken in fear! Heart racing out of fear, anxiety and how many nightmares this guy had about the incident. That is one way to speculate on that face he pulled.
Some say that the flannel on Alex’s face and sponge over his genitalia resemble the mask and cod peace when he first came to the house and then the sponge moves down to his feet resembling the codpease when he is going do you know what and he is also singing singing in the rain which he sung on the night as well so maybe is was Reimagining the it. Just to add at 2:25 he punches the bath the same way he kicked Mr.Alexander on the night as well.
I do believe there is subconscious guilt from Alex subtly manifested in the scenes between his release and attempt at suicide. The whole chain of events feel like Alex is making him self available to the punishment handed out to him, almost as if he is embracing society’s retribution against him. Most noticeably, in this scene. On the face of it he’s happily re visiting the assault, but he must be aware that this could trigger the writer to realise who Alex actually is. And therefore sign his own death warren. It might appear accidental, but I think deep down Alex at least believed in an eye for eye, even if that meant at his own expense.
It is a great movie. Yesterday i was looking for some decent 70's like Barbarella and came across a "most controversial movies of all time" and A Clockwork Orange was ranged #1 with 2500 more votes than the #2. I honestly think "Deep Throat" or hell, Caligula (haha) was more controversial than this.
Yeah, I didn’t like it in the shining though. It made the door look like the ceiling and was disorienting. But here, it added a weird angle to the horror. This scene also reminds me of the horror Dave went through in the stargate in 2001, with the shots of his face distorted
When Malcolm McDowell was introduced to Gene Kelly at a Hollywood party, Kelly realised who he was and glared at him, then stormed off lol. _Singin in the Rain_ had been Kelly's song before A Clockwork Orange.🟠
This film pushed the boundaries in the early 1970s. Remember, at the time, there was nothing as intense as this movie up until 1971. It was groundbreaking at the time & highly controversial. Even by today's standards, there are some scenes that are very intense, making the viewer feel discomfort. However, if that exact same movie were made today, it would not even raise an eyebrow.
So this is the life of Oompa Loompas that are retired from the chocolate factory, sitting on wheelchairs and type up any reports on government offerings. LOL!
Mental note: don't sing in the bathtub. You never know who is actually hearing your chants and maybe you'll come up face to face with a music hater or something far more worse.
The writer is played by Patrick McGee, now I don't think this film is his finest hour (though I haven't seen the whole thing, just a scene or two) but he's a damn good actor and, on the whole, better than McDowell. No, McGee's finest hour is as McCann in the late Friedkin's 'The Birthday Party'. Just thought his name should be said now and then, he's got a great voice.
Magee said that he thought he was overdoing it, and he in particular thought he looked like he was taking an epic dump when he saw how this was shot. It sort of works considering the character is supposed to be insane.
I thought it was odd for Alex to sing this a second time in that house. But he was probably so messed up on drencrom during that first visit that he didn’t remember singing it.
When I first saw this movie I did not no it was Stanley Kubricks movie I love the scene with the old man at the dinner table (food alright try the wine)