A Clockwork Orange; book and film

A Clockwork Orange is a book written by Anthony Burgess in 1962, but it was adapted as a film by Stanley Kubrick in 1971.

This two works are known worlwide by their social impact and extravagancy, but they differ from each other in very slightly changes that I will recount.

Starting with the characters, in the book the author stablished that Alex and his grooves were 15 years old, while in the movie they appear to be older, yet not old enough to be mature. I think this change was made so the public wouldn´t feel the story was that harsh and cruel.

Another change in the movie was the scene where Alex and his friends beat up a drunk homeless man. In the book they kicked and hit a man who was carrying various books while walking on the street. Again, this change of events make the impact of the scenes more bearable.

We can appreciate the change of ages in the characters once more during the rape scene. Anthony Burgess stablished that the girls was 14 years old, while Stanley Kubrick decided the woman would be about 20 years old. Considering the fact that the principal characters wouls appear older in the film, it is obvious that all the other cast wouls suffer the same changes, because if not, the movie would have been bizarre.

Even though some of the secuences of the book appear in a different order in Kubrick´s adaption, they still have the same main idea in general. They visit the same places and act the same way, making the movie very true to Anthony Burgess´ writings.