if... A brutal look at a brutal society and the importance of rebellion.

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Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #2022 in DVD
• Released on: 2007-07-23
• Rating: Suitable for 15 years and over
• Formats: Black & White, Colour, PAL
• Original language: English
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 107 minutes

Amazon.co.uk Review
The Palme D’Or-winning British classic, If...’s long wait for a DVD release is finally over, and the end result does it proud. Boasting commentaries, interviews and a quality documentary too, it’s a true collectors’ piece for fans of the film.

And make no mistake about it, it’s the superb movie that’s the star here. If... is, for those new to it, set in a British public school, and from this setting it has plenty then to say on authority and society. Directed by the late, great Lindsay Anderson, the film centres on Mick Travis, magnetically portrayed by Malcolm McDowell.

Superbly marrying fantasy and more realistic elements, If... is packed with iconic, and often quite surreal moments, leading right up the to the famed and indelible ending that sticks long in your mind once the credits have rolled.

A strong, powerful influence for many who followed it, If... is powered by Malcolm McDowell’s astounding performance (which would earn him the part in Stanley Kubrick’s A Clockwork Orange). It’s arguable that he’s never been better than he is here, and he’s in good company, thanks to a top-quality supporting cast too.

Perhaps the greatest complement to If... though is that, decades after is initial release, it’s not only recognised as one of the finest British films ever made, but it’s regarded in many quarters as a classic of cinema full stop. And if you’ve not yet had the pleasure, this DVD release finally, belatedly, can open the film up to a whole new audience. Let’s hope it does. --Jon Foster

Special Features

Commentary with David Robinson and Malcolm McDowell

Lindsay Anderson’s Oscar winning documentary Thursday’s Children

Cast and Crew interviews

Interview with actor Graham Cowden

Synopsis
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 moustache--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.

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Customer Reviews

About time too....
This 'must-have' DVD is an extraordinary, iconic and beautiful film by the late Lindsay Anderson. A film always undervalued by Paramount for whom it was their third choice to take to Cannes, yet it won the Palme d'Or and was nominated for both a BAFTA and a Golden Globe. So undervalued that Paramount eventually caves in under pressure to produce the DVD 38 years after its release with a commentary recorded by Malcolm McDowell four years ago!

I saw the film on its release in a small cinema in Glasgow and came out changed. It was a keystone of British late 60s film that included 'Blow-Up' and 'Barbarella'. The surreal elements (the chaplain emerging from a chest of drawers, matron wandering naked through the corridors, the cafe scene...) imply that the school scenes were fantasy, yet several elements accurately reflected some independent schools at that time.

For many years the mix of colour and monochrome scenes, which add to the film's mystique, was thought to be a deliberate move by the director. However a documentary 5 years ago revealed a more prosaic reason. At a time when colour film stock was significantly more expensive than monochrome when the budget ran out the director was forced to film some location scenes in black and white.

The haunting 'Sanctus' (taken from the Missa Luba by Les Troubadours du Roi Baudouin) became a chart hit. The petty tyranny and growing resentment were beautifully measured and caught the rebellious spirit of the late 60s with the student riots in Paris, 'The Prisoner' on TV and the ubiquitous Che Guevara posters. The denoument was every rebel's fantasy and it was interesting to see that the recent Dr Who episode "The Family of Blood" had an unashamed homage to this climax.

This film must be on every British film wanted list. Better far, far too late than never, but better it had been released years ago.

A long awaited DVD release...
Oh, it's almost inconceivable, nay ridiculous that this hasn't come out on DVD until now. It's still rather incongruous that even after this we'll be waiting for 'O Lucky Man' to complete the Lindsay Anderson's Mick Travis trilogy (Britannia Hospital's out, in a vanilla version from Cinema Club).

If you know "If...." already then it's likely you'll love it - if not then here's your chance to taste one of the best films from one of the best UK filmmakers of the 20th Century.

"If...." develops into an armed rebellion at a British public school. Associated with the 1960s counterculture movement, it was filmed at the time of the student uprisings in Paris in May 1968, and from the ethos of the time includes controversial statements such as "There's no such thing as a wrong war. Violence and revolution are the only pure acts", and "One man can change the world with a bullet in the right place." and features a number of surrealist sequences throughout.

Although it's a work of it's time it stands up remarkably well, from its fantastic performances and direction, as well as the strength of the film as a whole.

Not to be missed, one of the great DVD releases of 2007!!

DVD issue of classic British film
'If....' is the first part in a loose trilogy based around the central character of Mick Travis (Malcolm McDowell), the subsequent parts being 'O!Lucky Man' & 'Britannia Hospital'. Written by David Sherwin, it was initially titled 'Crusaders' & takes its influence from Jean Vigo's classic surreal short 'Zero de Conduite' (1933). Director Lindsay Anderson was a key figure in the British New Wave- which took it's cue from the Nouvelle Vague & itself would influence directors in the New German Cinema (such as RW Fassbinder). Anderson, as Godard & Truffaut, moved from film criticism to making his own films- such as the brilliant 'This Sporting Life'(1963). Here he moves back to his alma mater, Cheltenham Boys College- though it could be any institution...

The film centres on episodes, which exist sometimes in a form of reality & drift otherwise into a surreal fantasy, each builds towards the denoument which sits well next to the 1968 riots in Paris ('If....' managed to capture the zeitgeist- see also the Civil Rights riots in the States or the predominantly middle class anti-war protestors both sides of the Atlantic). 'If...' drifts from colour to monochrome- taking its cue from Godard & influencing later works such as 'Natural Born Killers' & 'Nixon'. It was widely reported that this was due to budget considerations, and it is hard to mould a theory of why each colour is used. As in 'Nixon' (1995) it shifts film stock son frequently, there is no definite grammar as to what each represents- I just think it heightens the surreality & reverses what is fantasy & reality (we aren't sure if any of this is occurring- especially if we bear in mind the following films). A classic scene that demonstrates this is the episode where Mick & friend steal a motorbike & go out to a cafe in the middle of nowhere, where they meet the mysterious girl (Christine Noonan)- where we shift between (at least) three different conceptions of this situations (strangers? lovers? friends?) accompanied by the recurrent African music- which just happens to be on the jukebox. The girl recurs later as, perhaps the headmaster's daughter- she is seen gazing out of a window through a telescope. It is unclear- which is the joy of this film...

'If....' was certainly of great influence- Stanley Kubrick was a big fan & casted Malcolm McDowell in 'A Clockwork Orange' as a result (also the 'war face'part here can be seen in Kubrick's later dark masterpiece 'Full Metal Jacket'). The cast are fantastic- made more surreal by the appearance of sitcom regulars like Arthur Lowe, Graham Crowden & Robin Askwith. It is notable that Stephen Frears worked on this in a technical capacity, similar to Nic Roeg's camerawork on films like 'Fahrenheit 451' that lead to moving towards their own directing films...

'If....' is a perfect film, it makes complete sense when viewed next to other works of the time that exhibit a blend of Brecht & Kafka- such as Godard's 'Weekend'(also 1968), Antonioni's 'Zabriskie Point' (1970),Pasolini's 'Teorema' (1968) ,Pontecorvo's 'The Battle of Algiers' (1966) & Costa Gavras' 'Z' (1968)- which all exhibit revolt & end in destruction (and I take a previous review that mentions 'The Prisoner', 'The Singing Detective' is similarly shifting through the surreal- between fantasy & reality). It has also been cited by many musicians, including Genesis P-Orridge (Throbbing Gristle/Psychic TV), Mark E Smith (The Fall)& Bobby Gillespie (Primal Scream). Must be the spirit of revolt and the very British institution on screen?

'If....' is one of my favourite films, and a contender for one of the best British films ever made- easily ranking next to 'A Clockwork Orange', 'Performance' & 'Blow Up'. A timeless allegory that is compounded by the culture surrounding incidents like Columbine & Dunblane, and more recently, Virginia Tech. 'If....' is punk rock before punk rock, a very British film with very European sensibilities, and one of those films that always makes my Top 10 of all time list. A very welcome DVD issue, and the bonus screenplay is a very pleasant addition too!

If....only British cinema could be this daring again....