If.... (DVD)

A review of the Paramount DVD. If.... is a classic British film from 1968, directed by Lindsay Anderson (not a woman, in spite of his girly name). It's about life in an absurdly constrictive public school, and three sixth formers who try to rebel against the system. It's very 1960s, but while it sometimes seems a bit gauche, especially in some of its dialogue, it's a lot of fun. It was filmed in a real public school at Cheltenham, where Anderson himself had been taught. The genuine locations help enormously. This feels like a school; even if most people won't have been to an über-posh boarding school there's still something here to ...  Read the complete review

I'm sure I will be branded a philistine for my review of this film. But I just didn't get it. I like films that make sense. Clear plot lines do it for me. This film just confused me and made me raise my eyebrows. ++The Film++ Supposedly a 'cult' film (I didn't get Clerks either!) This film is the first part of a loose trilogy including O' Lucky Man and Britannia Hospital, which are all based around the central character in If... who is Mick Travis, played by Malcolm McDowell. The film is broken down into parts or chapters and plays out (in what seems to be no particular pattern) in black and white and colour and vary from what (I think) seems to be ...  Read the complete review

If?is one of those films which puts a hook into everyone who sees for any number of reasons. It tells the story of a young adolescent student played by Malcolm Macdowell of Clockwork Orange fame who rebels against the disciplinarian boarding school which he attends in what is a microcosm of the class war which was being waged in the 1960?s in Britain when the film was made. Coincidentally, If? was also made just before the Paris student riots of 1968, and heralded a major crisis in the British education system prompted by various people who thought the film too provocative for the student audience it was aimed at and tried to have it banned. Unfortunately, this action ...  Read the complete review

Personally i didn't. Whether that was due to the fact that i had to write an essay on it and thus go through it with a fine toothcomb and pull it apart i don't know, somehow i doubt it. It may have been good in its day, but unless you particularly like 60's British films i wouldn't go out of your way to see it. It is basically about a public boys school and the rules and regulations that are enforced within it, and a group of three 'rebels' who go against the rest of the school, ending up shooting at them all from the rooftops. It has quite a bit of quirky British humour and eccentricity, so may be worth watching if you like ...  Read the complete review