The image on the giant screen made the breath of the trio pop, and for the first time, I wondered how cold it must have been while McDowell was having his head submerged at length. In another scene post-'cure', Alex meets with his old droogs Dim and Georgie Boy, who dunk his head in a vat of water in a deserted countryside setting. According to McDowell, the scene in which he is put on display as a 'cured' and 'good Christian', (you may know it as the boot-licking scene), the actor who had McDowell pinned to the ground with the heel of his shoe dug in in such a way that it bruised between the actor's ribs and caused a blood clot extensive and painful enough that a doctor had to go in with an obscenely long needle to break it apart. Call me crazy, but I had always assumed that must have been the most painful and potentially excruciating part of filming. The iconic 'treatment' scene, involving clamps attached to Alex's eyelids, forcing his eyes open, were administered by an actual doctor, but also kept falling off and apparently scratched McDowell's cornea. The droogiest of droogs himself was in attendance, Malcolm McDowell introduced the show and stuck around for an extensive Q&A afterward with delightful antidotes about filming, working with Kubrick, and otherwise fascinating tales about life as McDowell. For instance, in the newspapers announcing Alex's release, the print reads 'Alex Burgess' rather than 'Alex DeLarge.' A nod to Clockwork author Anthony Burgess perhaps? This may be common knowledge, but I don't know that I've ever noticed it before seeing it projected on a screen, with the letters ten feet tall. Gorgeousity made flesh, brothers! The picture so clear and looming so large, new details emerged like easter eggs in an old favorite. Welly, welly, welly, welly, well! Your most humble web editor and narrator attended the Beyond Fest 50th anniversary screening of A Clockwork Orange, restored in glorious 4k.

Clockwork orange narrator