A Clockwork Orange (novel) After his fellow cellmates blame him for beating a troublesome cellmate to death, he is chosen to undergo an experimental behaviour modification treatment called the Ludovico Technique in exchange for having the remainder of his sentence commuted. The technique is a form of aversion therapy, in which Alex is injected with nausea-inducing drugs while watching graphically violent films, eventually conditioning him to become severely ill at the mere thought of violence. As an unintended consequence, the soundtrack to one of the films, Beethoven's Fifth Symphony, renders Alex unable to enjoy his beloved classical music as before. The effectiveness of the
A Clockwork Orange (film) 1973 and earned $1.5 million in rentals. In the United States, "A Clockwork Orange" was rated X in its original release in 1972. Later, Kubrick voluntarily replaced approximately 30 seconds of sexually explicit footage from two scenes with less explicit action for an R rating re-release in 1973. Current DVDs present the original version (reclassified with an "R" rating), and only some of the early 1980s VHS editions are the edited version. Because of the explicit sex and violence, The National Catholic Office for Motion Pictures rated it "C" ("Condemned"), a rating which forbade Roman Catholics seeing the film. In