| | | | A Film by Lindsay Anderson.
Features: DVD, English
Lindsay Anderson's If.... is a daringly anarchic vision of British society, set in a boarding school in late-sixties England. Before Stanley Kubrick made his mischief iconic in A Clockwork Orange, Malcolm McDowell made a hell of an impression as the insouciant Mick Travis, who, along with his school chums, trumps authority at every turn, finally emerging as violent savior against the draconian games of one-upmanship played by both students and the powers that be. Mixing color and black and white as audaciously as it mixes fantasy and reality, If.... remains one of cinema's most unforgettable rebel yells.
"...script is intriguing, the juicy ensemble acting of this dream cast is breathtaking." Elliott Stein, The Village Voice
"...a true British classic." Jamie Russell, BBC Film Review
"...brilliant touches...a terrific film made with incredible brio." Peter Bradshaw, The Guardian
Editor's Note
Filmed at the time of the 1968 student uprising in Paris, Lindsay Anderson's IF. . . is one of the seminal films of the era of student revolt. The characters' direct psychological and emotional displays are an allegory for how individuals must either conform to or rebel against the autocratic authority that is imposed upon them in the face of a class-driven society. The microcosm for this allegory in IF... is College House, a typical English boarding school for boys 11-18 years of age. Malcolm McDowell makes a powerful debut in the role of Mick Travis, a student in his Junior year who becomes the leader of a student rebellion. The students are rebelling against the system which allows Senior prefects to control and discipline younger students--through physical beatings--for infractions of the schools arcane and arbitrary rules. When Mick is disciplined by the Seniors for his "bad attitude" he is punished in a harrowing scene which does not romanticize the violence he endures.Divided into chapters with on-screen titles, Anderson methodically shows Mick's transition from adolescent rebelliousness--growing a mustache--to more serious revolt. Anderson uses surrealism, in a style similar to that of Bunuel or even Monty Python. For instance, the headmaster keeps the school chaplain in a large drawer in his office. Clearly inspired by Jean Vigo's ZERO FOR CONDUCT, IF. . . manages to give a realistic, unsentimental view of English public school life, while connecting--largely through McDowell's wonderfully sympathetic portrait of anguished youth--to the theme of personal freedom vs. social order.
Plot Summary
A shocking, surreal and poignant drama about a trio of lower-class British youths who rebel against their boarding school in a metaphorical statement about English class distinctions.
| Features | Thursday's Children (1955): Lindsay Anderson's Academy Award-Winning Documentary | | 2003 Episode From BBC Scotland's TV Series Cast & Crew About If.... | | Audio Commentary With Actor Malcolm McDowell | | Audio: English Dolby Digital Mono | | Includes A Booklet Featuring Writings By Lindsay Anderson | | Interactive Menus | | Original Theatrical Trailers | | Scene Selection | | Video Interview With Actor Graham Crowden |
| Technical Info
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Release Information
| | Studio: Image |
| Release Date: 6/19/2007 |
| Running Time: 112 minutes |
| Original Release Date: 1969 | | Catalog ID: 1699 | | UPC: 00715515024426 | | Number of Discs: 2 |
Audio & Video
| | Original Language: English | | Available Audio Tracks: English | | Video: Color |
Aspect Ratio | | Widescreen 1.75:1 |
| Cast & Crew
| Awards |
Nominee (1970) | | | Golden Globe, If...., Best English-Language Foreign Film | |
Nominee (1969) | | | British Academy Awards, Lindsay Anderson, Best Direction | | | British Academy Awards, David Sherwin, Best Screenplay | |
Winner (1969) | | | Cannes Film Festival, Lindsay Anderson, Golden Palm Award |
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| | Professional Reviews | Entertainment Weekly
"[The film combines] innovative technique with corrosive humor..." -- Rating: A- 09/16/1994 p.130Total Film
"...Much of its potency is due to the way former documentarian Anderson manages to blend European surrealism into the film's near-documentary style..." 03/01/2002 p.105 Ultimate DVD
4 stars out of 5 -- "With surreal elements....It success perhaps lies in cannily tapping the zeitgeist of the time." 08/01/2007 p.123 Sight and Sound
"Though IF....is more sombre than its successors, it shares with them a streak of surrealism and magic realism." 09/01/2007 p.88 Ozus' World Movie Reviews 8 of 10
...[Anderson's] sharp allegorical satire on Brit society is a controversial drama as seen through life at a English boys' boarding school. It perfectly captures the mood of the time of those who rebel against the repressive status quo. The school becomes an ideal metaphor to represent British society...Anderson paints an ugly picture of the boarding school and the English system that tolerates these sadistic and meaningless rules to maintain discipline, and clearly sides with those who rebel--even if they resort to violence...It plays as a landmark 1960s counterculture film that speaks the anarchist language of those who choose revolution...Filled with passion for its cause and aptly picking up on the heavy vibes for its time, nevertheless its revolutionary message seems facile and questionable when viewed at this later date even though the repressive nature of society still hasn't changed that much. - Ozus' World Movie Reviews
The Observer 9 of 10
Reissued in a new print and winners of the Palme d'Or at Cannes, Lindsay Anderson's if... (1968) confirms its status as a classic, a movie of real authority...Anderson uses an English public school not, like Goodbye Mr Chips, to affirm tradition, but to attack authoritarianism and the way the Establishment rules by dividing and co-opting. His likeable rebels, led by Malcolm McDowell, are romantic anarchists, and a mystical note is introduced by the use of the Missa Luba on the soundtrack...Stylistically the movie draws on surrealism and the documentary, reflecting Anderson's attachment to the different cinematic poetry of Humphrey Jennings and Jean Vigo...A response to the turbulent Sixties, the counter culture and the Vietnam War, it was the first film in a trilogy that continued to take the temperature of Britain over the next 14 years through the picaresque satire O Lucky Man! (1978) and the bitter farce Britannia Hospital (1982). - Philip French
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