'We are so medieval': Malcolm McDowell says A Clockwork Orange is becoming reality, 45 years after its release
- McDowell played the lead role of Alex DeLarge in the 1971 film adaptation
- He says America's vast prison population is 'medieval'
- He also said film predicted our obsession with TV and the 'drug explosion' with Western youth
- Novel was inspired by Anthony Burgess's encounter in a Moscow cafe
- America had more than six and a half million prisoners at the end of 2014
When dystopian novel A Clockwork Orange came out in 1962, few thought it was a plausible imagining of the future.
But, according to Malcolm McDowell, who stared in the novel's 1971 adaptation, it was in fact a chillingly accurate forecast.
Speaking to the New York Daily News, McDowell explains how the Stanley Kubrick film shows a 'world in which all older people stay indoors with televisions on'.
Scroll down for video
Malcolm McDowell (right) who played central character Alex DeLarge (left) in the 1969 film adaptation of A Clockwork Orange, says that the novel was a grim prediction of the present
The novel's central theme follows a group of violent 'droogs' - or gang members - who seek to illicit 'ultra-violence', mayhem and sexual depravity
And, he says, that is 'basically what has happened'.
McDowell also says that the film shone a light on the failings of the prison system and that this is being reflected in modern America.
Many scenes in the now iconic film - which got slammed by critics at the time - are set in prison, where McDowell's character and his cohorts are subjected to painful aversion therapy.
He told the New York Daily News: 'It’s amazing how there’s so many people incarcerated in America.
'We are so backward in our thinking, we are so medieval.'
Anthony Burgess's (left) inspiration for the twisted tale came about while sitting in a Moscow coffee shop. Pictured right: The novel's cover
The novel's central theme follows a group of violent 'droogs' - or gang members - who seek to illicit 'ultra-violence', mayhem and sexual depravity.
The four young men pursue their pleasures after downing drug-laced glasses of milk.
McDowell believes this was a prediction of the 'drug explosion' among the Western youth.
McDowell said: 'It’s amazing how there’s so many people incarcerated in America. We are so backward in our thinking, we are so medieval.' Pictured: Inmates at Mule Creek State Prison
Many scenes in the now iconic film - which got slammed by critics at the time - are set in prison, where McDowell's character and his cohorts are subjected to painful aversion therapy
McDowell also revealed that author Anthony Burgess's inspiration for the twisted tale came about while sitting in a Moscow coffee shop.
A menacing group of 'thugs' leered at him through the window, this triggered the idea for the book and also the 'nadsat' slang language - which the characters speak in the book.
According to the Bureau of Justice Statistics, America had more than six and a half million prisoners at the end of 2014.
- Terrifying footage: On board the Somalian bomb horror jet
- Heartbreaking footage shows abused dog staring at a wall
- Breathtaking voice of 11-year-old boy singing Adele's Hello
- Abused dog Cara barks and plays with another dog in recovery
- Refugees attack elderly man on the Metro in Munich
- Bullied teen uses video of attack to spread positive message
- Hilarious video shows baffled dog struggle to get through...
- 'Sticker kid' steals spotlight during Clinton speech in Iowa
- Miracle escape for four- month- old baby involved in M5...
- It's time to call the ghostbusters: orbs found on monitor
- Sheriff's Deputy celebrates retirement by doing Whip/Nae Nae
- Ed Boland: One student prostituted herself for one dollar
- 'My everything since the day I laid eyes on you': Buffalo...
- EXCLUSIVE ‘She slid her hand down her jeans, looked me in...
- EXCLUSIVE: Detectives suspect that stabbing murder of...
- PICTURES: OJ and Nicole Simpson's daughter Sydney, 30, steps...
- 'Don’t kill yourself in Kimmy’s bedroom': Gripping premiere...
- EXCLUSIVE: 'Blood was flowing like a river.' Key O.J....
- Cleveland Browns hit out at Johnny Manziel in blistering...
- From handsome youth to meth-addled fugitive: How life of...
- Mutant 'fish' with a nose, feet, tail and WINGS baffles...
- 'I hope the m********** suffered': MTA employee's shocking...
- Confessions of a Sugar Baby: The 18-year-old woman booked by...
- Heartbreaking video shows dog so traumatised by years of...