Viddy Well…..

So, I knocked off work early on Friday. Ah, I hear you cry, the weather was nice so Minty was getting to the pub early? Um, no. Oh, well then you must have been heading to one of the beautiful London parks to soak up some sun with friends? Err.. not exactly. Well, why then? To get some photos of an underpass in Wandsworth, obviously….

Yes, I’m sad. Anyway, this is where one of the opening scenes of the legendary ‘A Clockwork Orange‘ was shot some 37 years ago, nice to see they’ve tidied the place up since eh? I’ve always had a odd relationship to this film, like any other budding movie fan growing up in the 1980’s this movie occupied an almost unique mythic status, banned as it was in the UK for reasons I won’t regurgitate here but suffice to say it’s rarity and illict status only added to it’s allure.

God bless him, my brother turned up with a dodgy US VHS copy one day which finally satisfied my curiosity and led to a small cottage industry as I churned out copies for friends and punters at my secondary college for £15 a go - Richard Branson eat your heart out. Naturally, being Kubrick it was always a work of unparalleled genius, but I always remember being a bit bored after Alex had been banged up in jail - after the sheer exhilaration, euphoria and complicity of the first half hour, the film slows down and takes on a much more satiric and metaphorical edge. Being older and wiser I can appreciate why, as like ‘Eyes Wide Shut‘ the movie is striving for an almost fairy tale, fable like quality as the main protagonist re-visits the same locations, the same places he saw during the first cycle of the movie with quite different results and outcomes.

Here are some links to a fine documentary made on the film’s re-release back in (I think) 2000 which can fill in some of the details for you. Amongst many other Kubrick pictures, the HD DVD release of the film promises some mouth watering extras such as a commentary from Malcolm McDowell and historian Nick Redman - whoever he may be. The question is, do I buy a Blue Ray Drive for my Mac or go crazy and get myself a sleek new Playstation 3? Decisions…decisions…

~ by mintyblonde on August 14, 2007.