Feb 18th
A Clockwork Orange*          

(GB 1971)                    

A young thug is betrayed by his friends and brainwashed and then exploited by the state to "cure" him of his violent ways.
Sick and stylish semi-futuristic black comedy (more about its own era than the future), a deliberate antidote to the sleek, enigmatic sophistication of 2001: A Space Odyssey, but later withdrawn by Kubrick himself from distribution after death threats to his family and "copycat" acts of violence. It has since earned a perhaps undeserved cult reputation after being absent from British screens for over 25 years.

Written, Produced and Directed by: Stanley Kubrick, based on the novel by Anthony Burgess.
Starring: Malcolm McDowell, Patrick Magee, Michael Bates, Warren Clarke, Adrienne Corri, Anthony Sharp, Carl Duering, Aubrey Morris, Sheila Raynor, Philip Stone, David Prowse.
Photography: John Alcott.
Music: Walter Carlos, and others.
Production Design: John Barry.

The slogan "Stanley Kubrick's Clockwork Orange" (not Anthony Burgess's) was telling.

Preceded by:
The Burning*
(GB 1967. BFI Production Board/Memorial Enterprises. 31m. bw; Restrained but telling little interracial drama from a child's perspective in an Apartheid state just at the onset of a revolution.; w: Roland Starke, from his short story; d: Stephen Frears; s: Mark Baillie, Gwen Ffrangcon-Davies, Isobel Muller, Cosmo Pieterse.)