We should hate Alex DeLarge. We should loathe him with a fiery passion. He's a violent, abusive thug, getting his kicks from drugs, alcohol and rape. And yet, by the end of Stanley Kubrick's extraordinary film, you actually feel sorry for him. Such is the gut-wrenching twist that comes into play during A Clockwork Orange, a chilling (yet entertaining) morality play about crime and punishment adapted from Anthony Burgess' incendiary book.
By making Alex (Malcolm McDowell) into a chirpy, gleeful protagonist, it's almost possible to put aside our dismay at his actions and to understand his pain when he's brainwashed into a new way of thinking by the government. Alex is the archetypal anti-hero: a character you find yourself rooting for despite your better judgement; someone you'd hate to meet but can't tear your eyes away from. He's everything we hate about society, but a lovable scamp with it. Watch... but don't learn.