When people complain a lot about our current school system, just tell them to watch this. Talk about being restricted from being yourself. A lot of this makes me just as annoyed and angry as Malcom McDowell. I do really like how good a job they do at showing what it was like being a teenager. You're ready to be an adult, but not fully allowed to be one yet. But at least in my high school, if you did something sort of bad you didn't get spanked by a wooden rod. There is a big aspect of the film that I want to love, but I find issues with it as well. The switch between black and white, along with the switch between reality and fantasy don't like up. I love the concept of seeing what the main trio want and think about and then seeing what they actually get. And I love the concept of switching tone with color or lack thereof. I just don't understand why these things don't line up at all. Perhaps I just need to watch it more times back to back and analyze better. But if it doesn't clearly matchup on a viewing, or only have one switch that has meaning, then I do think that is a drawback. However, this is still a great watch that I recommend. Kubrick himself liked it enough to cast Malcom McDowell for A Clockwork Orange, so I think you'll enjoy his performance as well.

Shocking sort of film, and quite surprising it was made given the time and place. What was clearly intended as satire/fantasy hits a little too close to home in modern times, but in ways that only amplify the prescience and intelligence of the film's thoughts on power, abuse, and trauma. Young McDowell is such a live wire.