If.... (1968) - Lindsay Anderson
If.... (1968) - Lindsay Anderson [Amazon.com]
If.... (1968) - Lindsay Anderson
If.... is a cult film by British director Lindsay Anderson. In the film, students at an English public school revolt bloodily against the establishment around them. It starred Malcolm McDowell, Arthur Lowe, Peter Jeffrey, Richard Warwick, David Wood, and Christine Noonan.
It was filmed at the time of the student uprisings in Paris in 1968. Cheltenham College, Anderson's old school, was used for outside locations.
The movie has surrealist stretches interspersed throughout and is often compared to Jean Vigo's French classic Zéro de Conduite.
It won the 1969 Palme d'Or (Golden Palm) at the Cannes Film Festival. In 2004 the magazine Total Film named it the 16th greatest British movie of all time. --http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/If...._%28film%29 [Aug 2005]
One of the great movies from the 60's -- or any other decade. When originally viewed in that time of civil disobedience and resistance to "authority" it was riveting, provocative, and stirring. But that was then, this is now. As great as the ending was during its original release, all who saw it knew that it was still fantasy -- an insightful comment on the suffocating strictures of public morality and convention. Now the fantasy has become reality. Columbine, Palestine, and 9/11 have shown us what Travis and his friends already knew -- that a single bullet (or act) can change history, and that those unafraid to die are the ones to be feared the most. There was nothing inherently sinister about the boys of College House. They were the children of the establishment. Children of the privileged, unlike the borstal boys of "The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner". Travis was not born to violence, he was driven there by things that should not have done so -- patriotism, reasonableness, and the "consequences" of resisting authority. Who dares to draw the line between a revolutionary and a terrorist? Do you find the actions of today's ultra-radicals incomprehensible? Try examining the labyrinthine psychological journeys portrayed in this incredible film. Did Anderson realize what he had done here? Sometimes, it seems, the creation acquires insights and takes on a meaning of its own, regardless of the intent of the creator. Pogo was right. --Daniel Dropko for amazon.com
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