Great Bolshy Yarblockos! Making 'A Clockwork Orange'

Great Bolshy Yarblockos! Making 'A Clockwork Orange' (2007)

*** (out of 4)

Nice, 28-minute documentary on the making of Stanley Kubrick's A CLOCKWORK ORANGE features interviews with various Kubrick experts and other directors. In the short running time we learn why Kubrick originally turned the story down only to change his mind and (as usual) go through several different screenplays before finally getting one he likes. The production of the film also gets some good stories including how Kubrick got "Singin' in the Rain" to be in the film and the eventually falling out between him and star McDowell. Speaking of McDowell, he's not interviewed here, which is a real shame and it's an even bigger shame that none of the actors were either. I'm not sure if they simply weren't available or what but with the lack of those involved in the film it does take away some entertainment. With that said, it's always fun to see other great directors talk about another one and a great film like A CLOCKWORK ORANGE and we get Steven Spielberg (in a clip taken from the EYES WIDE SHUT extra features), Ernest Dickerson, William Friedkin, Sydney Pollack and George Lucas. The documentary does a good job at letting them explain their love and thoughts on the film and we also get to hear them discuss all the controversy surrounding the film and it's eventual pulling from Britian by Kubrick himself.

Again, I don't usually review DVD extras, but I think that "Great Bolshy Yarblockos" was previously available as a standalone DVD, so I'll give it a go - even if I did watch this as an extra on the "A Clockwork Orange" Blu Ray.

This documentary about the making of the controversial adaptation of "A Clockwork Orange" assesses the impacts of the film, as generally it doesn't include testimony from anyone actually involved in the production.

I have to say that of the three documentaries on the BluRay, this was the least interesting and comprehensive of them. There are a bunch of talking head style interviews, some of them with very famous people, like Stephen Spielberg and Sydney Pollack. They talk about their thoughts about the film or Stanley Kubrick but it lacks the historical context that "Still Tickin" provides or stories from people actually involved in the production. It does recount the controversy that followed the release, as well as the more famous "Singing in the rain" stories and the stuff about McDowell scratching his corneas in the aversion scenes.

I don't want to sound too meanspirited about what is perfectly fine time, but there are much better documentaries about the film available.