if.... (1969)

I was in a sort of daze for hours after seeing If...for the first time in 2017. A work of art? Certainly but also a poetic historical document. After all the film dates back to 1968. 1968! when things were really changing and youth was taking a step forward, reminding the older generation that we'll be suffering the consequences of your thoughtlessness. So move over or else. I remember my father despising this film, he call it, propaganda. Propaganda?Maybe that's why I never saw it, until now. I was really moved by the film. Malcolm McDowell is the perfect man to incarnate the revolution that was about to come. It also made me look for all of Lindsay Anderson films - Just half a dozen feature films but my God! What an extraordinary director.

If... (1968) is the first of the unofficial Mick Travis trilogy from filmmaker Lindsay Anderson. It's a significant film in the 1960s counterculture and would come to be influential for other filmmakers in the decade to come. The film is very rooted in the late 1960s and acts as a sort of surreal snapshot of the social tensions of that era. Even today, If... plays well as a story about shaking off stifling tradition and challenging the status quo. Its ending shoot-out is shocking, especially in the light of the mass shootings which we hear of so often in the current century.That being said, there are some problems. If... is Anderson's most iconic movie but not necessarily his most powerful or focused. I felt the film sometimes loses itself toward the middle, dragging down the pacing. The switching between black-and-white film and color is distracting and needless (people try to find meaning in it, but the constant swapping is only there because the filmmakers had budget issues). The parts of If... feel much more satisfying than the whole.The ending has also provided issues with some viewers, who are ambivalent about Mick's (possibly symbolic more than literal) mass murder of the school faculty. Are Mick's actions justified by Anderson? Are we to condemn him? Is this conclusion the inevitable result of oppression and class-based struggle? It's all hard to pin down and has put off some people I have spoken to on the subject of If..., but for me, the questions raised by the bloody finale of the film only make it all the more interesting.O Lucky Man! is a better satire and This Sporting Life is a more poignant look at class struggle-- however, neither has the rousing, youthful exuberance of If... which makes it unique and provides much of its appeal to this day. For all its flaws, it remains one of Anderson's best loved movies.

If.... is a fantastic allegorical movie. Weird beyond belief, but normal enough that it doesn't stray into the surreal unbelievable. This film is like The Dead Poet Society for bad boys. With a stellar cast, it is obvious to see why Malcolm McDowell would later go on to play Alex DeLarge in Stanley Kubricks A Clockwork Orange. Truly a stunningly deep film which portrays war, society and school in all different directions. One of my favourite films ever to be composed. If it wasn't for this film, I would be continuing to squander in my life with no real direction. Truly a film that got me moving the right way. Excellent film and approach to some serious issues that have never been approached in the same way and probably never will be.

Noted director Lindsay Anderson took a short script called 'The Crusaders' and brought it to the silver screen as " If, . . . ." which has since become a monumental giant from the 1960's. Revolutionary in it's day, it has since morphed into a Avant Garde, stand-alone film which has since earned it's place among the fore-runners of our modern movies. So to has it premiere English movie star Malcolm McDowell who has established himself as a true Thespian. The movie is set in a Traditional military school with it's deeply rooted equally traditional standards which center on rules, adherence to discipline and harsh punishments. However, in among the returning students are several 'misfits' who will not accept the standard rules and regulations and decide to rebel. Everything the 'Whips' or upper classmates demand, such as short hair, obedience to orders, and strict adherence to morality, is fodder for the rebels. Thus the school is ripe for rebellion and the rebels do everything to disrupt the school year. The movie is in short order a setting between the old guard and the new order. The color film is filled with innovations such as splits to Black and white which add to the odd assortments of images which create a new way to viewing a story. New additions to the screen include Sean Bury as 'Jute', David Wood, Richard Warwick and Rupert Webster. All in all, this is a groundbreaking film and has stood the test of time. Thus; in it's own way it has become a Classic. Recommended to anyone who wants to view something completely different. ****