Based on the futuristic novel by Anthony Burgess, A Clockwork Orange is a masterwork of cinematic satire. When a flamboyant, Beethoven-obsessed, murderous gang leader agrees to undergo experimental violence-aversion therapy in exchange for early release from prison, he winds up “cured” of his own free will. The film’s highly stylized sets, choreographed brutality, and Moog synthesizer score?conceived to heighten the effect of each scene?were so ahead of their time that, to many, they obscured the overall message. In fact, so much controversy over the violent scenes ensued that the film’s notoriety became, itself, the stuff of legend.