Pete and Hannah’s Watchlist: · Pete and Hannah Mitchell

AFI Top 100 Movie 70 A Clockwork Orange

July 4, 2024·41 min·3 clips

Hannah declares A Clockwork Orange a red flag movie, warning listeners to avoid people who love it.

1. Pete and Hannah's Watchlist covers A Clockwork Orange, film #70 on the AFI Top 100, which Pete rented on Apple TV and Hannah was watching for the first time. 2. Pete Mitchell is the primary film historian on the show; Hannah co-hosts and provides reactions as a first-time viewer of many canonical films on the list. 3. The episode argues that A Clockwork Orange is an important film culturally but does not deserve its high critical standing because its themes have been reduced to aesthetic references in pop culture. 4. Anthony Burgess sold the film rights to his 1961 novel for approximately $500 because he underestimated the book's commercial value; he was a devout Roman Catholic who wrote it partly as an exercise in forgiveness after American soldiers attacked his wife. 5. A Clockwork Orange was released in December 1971 and grossed $114 million, becoming the highest-grossing film of that year, surpassing Dirty Harry and The French Connection. 6. At the time of release, Roger Ebert gave the film two out of four stars and called it 'an ideological mess,' while Pauline Kael of The New Yorker called it pornographic for dehumanizing victims while framing Alex's suffering sympathetically. 7. Kael also argued that Kubrick showed contempt for his audience and was 'sucking up to thugs'; more recent critics from The Guardian, Empire, and The Ringer have reassessed it as a cult classic with still-relevant themes of delinquency and corrupt power. 8. The film was nominated for four Academy Awards including Best Picture and Best Director, but won none; The French Connection won both that year. 9. Malcolm McDowell was 21 during filming and, not understanding how directors work, believed he and Kubrick had formed a genuine lifelong friendship, only to be dropped after production ended. 10. McDowell later became close with Kubrick's wife and wept openly at Kubrick's grave, a detail Pete uses to illustrate the psychological impact the relationship had on the young actor. 11. Kubrick adapted Burgess's American edition of the novel, which omits the final chapter in which Alex genuinely reforms; Kubrick cut the redemption ending because he found it unbelievable. 12. The film is structured in three acts: Alex as gang leader committing crimes, Alex in prison undergoing aversion therapy, and Alex released into a society where his conditioning prevents him from defending himself. 13. Pete notes the film's iconic visual style—the white costumes, bowler hats, and eye makeup—is so recognisable that a single image immediately signals 'Clockwork Orange' without any context. 14. Hannah delivers her hot take: that listing A Clockwork Orange as a favourite film on a first date is a red flag, and proposes a 'red flag/green flag movies' segment as a future feature for the show. 15. Hannah also argues that Kubrick would face criminal charges today, citing the 11-day continuous shoot of a sexual assault scene, a 28-minute uncut sex scene, and the psychological destruction of Shelley Duvall during The Shining. 16. Pete notes that Kubrick's Rotten Tomatoes and Letterboxd ratings for this film (86% and 4.1 respectively) are slightly lower than his other work, with The Shining holding an 8.4 on IMDb. 17. Both hosts agree the film should remain on the AFI list but be ranked closer to 100 rather than 70, and argue Spartacus should be removed to make room for The Shining or Full Metal Jacket. 18. The episode closes with Pete reading an extended piece of listener feedback about their Saving Private Ryan episode, covering the Matt Damon/Nathan Fillion casting detail, the oldest-versus-youngest sibling emotional response to loss, and the influence of Kubrick's Full Metal Jacket on Spielberg's production choices. 19. Film enthusiasts who enjoy contextualizing classic films through production history and critical controversy will find this episode most rewarding. 20. Viewers expecting emotional engagement with the film's themes rather than a historical and pop-cultural framing will likely find the tone too removed.

As heard by us

A blunt, uneasy revisit to a movie that still provokes strong reactions.

Pete and Hannah revisit A Clockwork Orange on AFI Top 100 10-Year Revisited, and the mix of Pete's familiarity with Hannah's first viewing gives the episode its edge.

Read the full review in PlayNext →

Why you'd press play

Play this if you want a blunt take on A Clockwork Orange.

Read the full recommendation in PlayNext →

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