History Film / AClockworkOrange

In a [[{{Dystopia}} dystopian]] alternate England where street crime is rampant and [[TeenageWasteland youths are uncontrollable]], teenage delinquent Alex [=DeLarge=] (Creator/MalcolmMcDowell) and his "Droogs" Dim, Georgie and Pete (Creator/WarrenClarke, James Marcus, Michael Tarn) [[TeensAreMonsters prowl the night spreading terror and destruction wherever they go]], just for kicks. By daybreak, Alex returns home to his [[AdultsAreUseless vapid parents]], who turn a blind eye to his activities, and enjoys his second favorite thing in the world: classical music, and that of Music/LudwigVanBeethoven above all.

Among the elements that comprise the film's famously bleak tone is a soundtrack that incorporates a lot of ClassicalMusic [[SignatureStyle (a Kubrick habit)]], some of which was rearranged by Music/WendyCarlos on a Moog synthesizer.

* GoMadFromTheRevelation[=/=]HeroicBSOD: There's a [[http://fusionanomaly.net/aclockworkorangeauthorface.jpg very unsettling]] low-angle shot of Frank Alexander's face contorting in horror when he realizes who Alex really is. This is no doubt part of his motivation for [[spoiler: torturing Alex with Beethoven's Ninth]]. The actor, Patrick Magee, is said to have then told Kubrick "I feel like I just took a shit in front of everyone".

* CentralTheme: The role of free will in making us human, even if humans use it to do evil.

* ArcNumber: Creator/StanleyKubrick frequently inserted the serial number [=CRM114=], or phonetic variations thereof (e.g. "Serum 114", in the movie.

* MisaimedFandom: In-Universe. Alex only likes ''Literature/TheBible'' for it’s scenes with sex and violence and fantasizes about being one of the Romans whipping Jesus.

* AxCrazy: Holy cannoli, Alex.

* BreakingTheFourthWall: The opening shot shows Alex giving a KubrickStare directly into the camera, which is one of the film's most iconic images. Alex then raises his glass, saluting the camera. Malcolm [=McDowell=] came up with this on the spot and when Kubrick asked him about it, he said he wanted to let the audience know "they were in for one hell of a ride."
** A few scenes later, he whistles to the soundtrack music while walking home.

* CrazyCatLady: Well, she's not so much "crazy" as she is ill-tempered and into really kinky art.

* CultOfPersonality: Alex adores Beethoven.

* DownerEnding: The film controversially removed the arguably vital last chapter of the novel, altering the message of the entire work substantially. In the novel, Alex voluntarily relinquishes his former life of ultraviolence and rape after having the effects of the brainwashing "Ludovico technique" reversed, and hence having his ability to act as an autonomous moral agent restored. In the film, he is implied to have simply returned to his previous vicious and amoral state with the chilling final words, ''"I was cured, all right."''

* EvenEvilHasStandards: Alex is a rapist and thoroughly unhinged character overall, but he's thoroughly disgusted when his beloved Beethoven music is used over clips of UsefulNotes/NaziGermany.

* GrapesOfLuxury: In one of Alex's fantasies.

* HeelFaceBrainwashing: Forced upon Alex himself.

* IControlMyMinionsThrough... Fear, Power and Sadism, by Alex (although it turns out his control doesn't last forever). Brainwashing and police brutality in the case of the government, and finally bribery.

* KickTheDog: The first act of the film is one sustained kick the dog moment for Alex. In the second and third acts, Alex ''is'' the dog.
* KickTheSonOfABitch: After the first act, Alex is on the receiving end of this trope for the rest of the film, being tortured, beaten, used, and/or humiliated by virtually everyone he comes into contact with. The Alex from the beginning is a tried and true bastard who one could understandably deem deserving every bit of punishment he endures, but it comes off a little more twisted in the state he's left in after the Ludovico treatment.
** Earlier in the film, Alex himself (along with his gang of droogs) dishes this trope out on a rival gang who are about to rape a woman, managing to best them in a fight before savagely beating them.

* OnlySaneMan: The prison chaplain.

* PsychoticSmirk / SlasherSmile: Alex is quite fond of these.

* RapeIsASpecialKindOfEvil: The attack on F. Alexander's wife says it all...

* RestrainingBolt: The Ludovico treatment.

* {{Sadist}}: Alex, who is also a SoftspokenSadist.

* TheSociopath: Alex might be the best example of this trope ever committed to film. He robs, rapes, and assaults innocent random people [[ForTheEvulz for his own amusement]], and who simply throws the spoils in a drawer under his bed.

* ContrivedCoincidence: In a single succession of events, the day Alex is released from treatment he's kicked out of his parents' house, is found and assaulted by the vagrant, [[CavalryBetrayal the two policemen who are about to help him are his former cronies who then proceed to brutalize him more]], and he finally limps and takes refuge in the house of the writer. It works well when viewed as [[Administrivia/TropesAreTools compressed narrative]] setting up a HumiliationConga.

* DirtyCop: After being released from prison, Alex is horrified to discover that his treacherous gang members George and Dim are now bobbies. "A job for two who are now of job-age. The police!" Given Georgie's previous interest in earning money for their crimes, it's pretty clear that they're motivated purely to get paid for brutalizing people. When they cross paths with Alex again, they drag him to a secluded place and beat him nearly to death while still in uniform.

* ClassyCane: Alex carries a cane that possesses a knife hidden within.

* PowerWalk: Occurs near a lake, and gets interrupted by Alex disciplining his droogs.

* ADateWithRosiePalms: According to WordOfGod, Alex is masturbating to Beethoven during the MushroomSamba as it plays.

* CostumePorn: The Droogs wear white shirts and pants, combat boots, huge codpieces over padded briefs, suspenders, and [[RealMenWearPink somewhat effeminate makeup]], and all but Dim wield heavy walking sticks as weapons. Dim's weapon is a bicycle chain wrapped around his waist. Everyone also has a different hat. Alex's cufflinks are styled as bloody eyeballs, and Dim's suspenders have a pattern of blood spatters worked into them. A rival gang with whom they brawl has a Nazi/military sartorial theme.

* WaterTorture: Dim and Billy beat up Alex and then forcibly dunk his head in a pig trough filled with water for a minute, nearly drowning him to death.

* HazyFeelTurn: Dim and Georgie (Billyboy in the novel), who have grown up and joined the side of law and order during Alex time in prison, but since this is a CrapsackWorld, they've just embraced a more profitable and "respectable" kind of brutality. They're still just as cruel and sadistic as before. [[spoiler: Played straight by Pete in the novel, and possibly Alex as well]]

* ComicallyMissingThePoint: The prison chaplain believes Alex is finding religion. Alex discusses how he likes the parts of Literature/TheBible where folks fight and murder each other before sleeping with their wives' handmaidens. He didn't like the whole "preachy" part of the book.

* FantasticDrug: Substances like "synthemesc" (presumably mescaline or a close analogue), "drencrom" (presumably adrenochrome) and "vellocet" (given the resemblance to "velocity", probably "speed"-like amphetamines) are all normally mixed into milk (thus why it's called "milk plus", as in milk plus whatever you put in it.

* FreezeFrameBonus: Close examination one of the newspaper articles near the end of the film reveals that Alex's real last name is Burgess and not "[=DeLarge=]" (which is in keeping with the novella, in which Alex gives himself the title "Alexander the Large" as a joke, referencing his penis size).

** [[spoiler: Frank Alexander drives Alex to suicide in hopes of using his death as a symbol of the government's corruption. Not only does Alex survive, but then the government decides to use him as their new poster boy, effectively destroying Alexander's credibility.]]

* TwentyMinutesIntoTheFuture: The film has a near-future vibe, with a '95 model car. However, the [[http://www.collativelearning.com/PICS%20FOR%20WEBSITE/ACO%20expanded/dvd%20stills%209/newspaper%20mirror%201970%20-%201969.png news]][[http://www.collativelearning.com/PICS%20FOR%20WEBSITE/ACO%20expanded/dvd%20stills%209/newspaper%20mirror%201972.png papers]] date it as a contemporary piece set in the 70s.

Following a treason by two of his gang's members that he put in their place earlier, Alex ends up in prison for his crime soon after. When he discovers that the government is planning to test an experimental treatment on a prisoner in exchange for freedom, Alex jumps at the opportunity -- until the treatment turns out to be a nightmare and leaves him unable to defend himself. It gets worse when Alex, after being released from prison, keeps bumping into vengeful victims of his.

* BloodlessCarnage: Despite its infamy for its graphic violence and disturbing content, there is not a single drop of blood present in the film despite the numerous beatings, fights, and acts of cruelty. This aspect creates a sense of detachment to force the audience to focus on the story and intensity of the themes as opposed to blood or gore.

* BlackAndGreyMorality: On the one hand, we have Alex, a repulsive rapist and murderer who is completely unrepentant of his crimes. On the other, we have a prison system and government whose main solution to the issue is to simply deprive him and those like him of their capacity for violence and free will rather than create an environment that instills genuine remorse and improvement. In the middle, we have Alex's fellow thugs who are similarly unrepentant and just as brutal and sadistic but found a way to act out their worst impulses with impunity and former victims like the writer whose justified hatred of Alex leads them to take advantage of his plight for revenge.

* CharacterSignatureSong: Despite being a Beethoven fan Alex is seen singing "Singin' In The Rain" twice. It's this that causes him to be recognized by one of his former victims.

* NakedFreakOut: A young woman is stripped by Billy's gang, and she runs off naked when Alex and his crew arrive on the scene looking for a fight.

* HufflepuffHouse: Pete becomes this in the film adaptation after having a slightly larger role in th literary source material. Like in the book, though, it's pretty clear he’s a timid boy who has latched on to Alex’s droogs while being naive to the true extent of Alex’s insanity.

* TheBadGuyWins: [[spoiler:Apparently, Alex is soon to released from the hospital, seems to be back to his old desires again. and has agreed to be a propaganda icon/martyr by the increasingly totalitarian government in a move to avoid or even reverse its downfall]].

-->Being the adventures of a young man whose principal interests are rape, ultra-violence and Beethoven.

** During one of his fantasies Alex imagines himself as {{Dracula}}, specifically like Creator/ChristopherLee's iconic [[http://i.telegraph.co.uk/multimedia/archive/02197/billson_main_2197930b.jpg image]], from ''Film/HorrorOfDracula''.

* RapeIsASpecialKindOfEvil: [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fe4sCmOe_5U This whole scene says it all...]]

** Georgie and Dim more or less become respectable police officers...but it is clear they love causing others pain and misery, with it being implied that Alex ''isn't'' the only person they've mistreated.