1. A Clockwork Orange

2. X-Rated
 The film A Clockwork Orange was released in 1971. During
that time the rating system was different than it currently
is.
 The ratings were:
 G (General)
 M (Mature)
 R (Restricted)
X
 M and R rating both indicated "adult" content. (Anybody
under 16 who wished to watch an M or R rated film had to
be accompanied by an adult)
 "X" rated films were known to be "too extreme" for anyone
under the age of 16 to watch. Theatres were not allowed to
watch anyone under 16 to watch X rated films even if they
were accompanied by an adult.

3.  The film was submitted to the BBFC in 1971. Bby that time
the age bar for seeing an X rated film had been raised from
16 to 18.
 A Clockwork Orange was passed with an X rating with no
cuts.
 The Board's Secretary, Stephen Murphy, defended the film.
He stated that "Disturbed though we were by the first half
of the film, which is basically a statement of some of the
problems of violence, we were, nonetheless, satisfied by the
end of the film that it could not be accused of exploitation:
quite the contrary, it is a valuable contribution to the whole
debate about violence".

4.  The sexual violence shown in the first thirty minutes
of the film and the "Ludovico Treatment“ and rape
footage, were considered too graphic for anyone under
16 to see which is why the film was rated as an X.
 "AClockwork Orange" and "Midnight Cowboy," were
two mainstream films which had been X rated. This
was because of the sexually explicit
 The "M" rating was replaced by "PG“ in 1972.

5.  The film never banned in the UK.
 The BBFC had classified it as an X- rating in 1971.
 Many people in Britain were disgusted and shocked by the film
when it first released and this was because the sexual violence
was considered to be quite extreme.
 Several violent crimes had been committed in Britain during 1972
and 1973. The film was blamed for this sudden increase in
violent crimes and people had said the film ‘influenced’ people
to commit these crimes.
 The crimes included an old man beaten to death in an underpass,
a sixteen year old boy wearing Alex's uniform beating up a
younger boy and a young woman raped by men chanting
'Singing in the Rain'.
 After this there was pressure put on director Stanley Kubrick to
ban the film.
 Kubrick withdrew A Clockwork Orange from British cinemas in
1973 and concluded by saying that the film would only be
allowed to be seen after his death.

6.  During the 1980's and 1990's, if British fans wanted to
watch the film, the only way they could do so was if they
ordered it on VHS from other countries, usually France.
 The Scala Cinema club in London screened the film In
1993, but without the director Kubrick’s permission.
 Warner Bros sued the Scala club which caused them to
become bankrupt and they eventually had to close down.
 Stanley Kubrick died in 1999 and A Clockwork Orange was
re-classified with an 18-rating by the BBFC. The film was
eventually re-released in British cinemas in 2000 and
released on VHS and DVD in the UK later that year.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0066921/faq

7. I definitely agree with the BBFC in year 2000 as I
think the content of this film seems quite
explicit and detailed therefore it definitely would
not be suitable for someone other than an adult
to watch. Even though it has been rated 18, to
some extent i think it should not have been
shown in cinema’s due to the amount of sexual
content in the film

8. Audience and critical responses
 ‘Movies that make people sick’: Audience Responses
to Stanley Kubrick’s A Clockwork Orange in 1971/72
 “A Clockwork Orange was a great movie and also it
was really creepy to watch.”
 “A Clockwork Orange is one movie that I was looking
forward to seeing again. I have seen it probably fifteen
times and it has yet to lose its appeal. The first time I
saw it I might have been sixteen and I was completely
shocked by the amount of violence and sexuality in
the film...the movie was like a kick in the face.”

9. “Had I not been required to view A Clockwork
Orange for class, I would have turned off the
movie after the first twenty minutes. I do not
completely dislike this movie but there are parts
that anger and offend me.”
“The first time I watched A Clockwork Orange, it
was almost too much to process at once. After
watching it a second time, however, I was able to
grasp on to several themes in the movie.”