“A Clockwork Orange,” December 17

Wednesday, December 17, 7 p.m.

Rozz-Tox, 2108 Third Avenue, Rock Island IL

With Rotten Tomatoes' critical consensus calling the film "disturbing and thought-provoking" as well as "a cold, dystopian nightmare with a very dark sense of humor," Stanley Kubrick's 1971 classic A Clockwork Orange will be screened on December 17 as part of the community series Filmosofia, this evening at Rock Island's Rozz-Tox also featuring a reading discussion on the movie's philosophical themes hosted by Augustana College's Dr. Deke Gould.

Written, produced, and directed by Kubrick and based on Anthony Burgess' 1962 novel, A Clockwork Orange employs disturbing and violent themes to comment on psychiatry, juvenile delinquency, youth gangs, and broader social, political, and economic issues in a dystopian near-future Britain. Alex (Malcolm McDowell), the central character, is a charismatic, anti-social delinquent whose interests include classical music (especially that of Beethoven), committing rape, theft, and "ultra-violence." He leads a small gang of thugs: Pete (Michael Tarn), Georgie (James Marcus), and Dim (Warren Clarke), whom he calls his droogs (from the Russian word друг, which means "friend"). The film chronicles the horrific crime spree of his gang, his capture, and attempted rehabilitation via an experimental psychological conditioning technique (the "Ludovico Technique") promoted by the Minister of the Interior (Anthony Sharp). Alex narrates most of the film in Nadsat, a fractured adolescent slang composed of Slavic languages (especially Russian), English, and Cockney rhyming slang.

Kubrick's work premiered in New York City on December 19, 1971, and was released in the United Kingdom on January 13, 1972. Immediately, A Clockwork Orange was met with polarized reviews from critics and was controversial due to its depictions of graphic violence. After it was cited as having inspired copycat acts of violence, the film was withdrawn from British cinemas at Kubrick's behest, and it was also banned in several other countries. In the United States, the film was initially given an X rating in its original release, although Kubrick eventually replaced approximately 30 seconds of sexually explicit footage from two scenes to obtain an R rating re-release later in 1972

In the years following, however, the film underwent a critical re-evaluation and earned a cult following. It also received several awards and nominations, including four nominations at the 44th Academy Awards, including Best Picture. In the British Film Institute's 2012 Sight & Sound polls of the world's greatest films, A Clockwork Orange was ranked 75th in the directors' poll and 235th in the critics' poll. In 2020, the film was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant."

A Clockwork Orange will be shown in the Filmosofia series on December 17, and the 7 p.m. screening will be preceded by a 6:30 p.m. discussion on a selection from Derk Pereboom's 2005 piece “Defending Hard Incompatibilism." The screening will followed by Dr. Deke Gould's discussion of the movie, admission to the event for ages 18 and older is free, and more information is available by calling (309)200-0978 and visiting RozzTox.com.