If...

Winner of the 1969 Palme d’Or at Cannes, Lindsay Anderson’s caustic satire If… proved to be an instant hit with both critics and audience alike, and launched the international career of a up till then relatively unknown Malcolm McDowell.

A punch in face of traditional boarding school life, and a harder punch still in the face of authority, the story centres on Mick Travis (Malcolm McDowell), a new pupil to the lower sixth form in an expensive British school. Together with fellow comrades-in-crime Johnny (David Wood) and Wallace (Richard Warwick), the three youngsters are given hell on earth by some nasty upper sixth formers who call themselves ‘Whips’ and who acts a prefects over the ‘underlings’. Not easily intimidated, Mick soon rebel yells against his tyrants, which also includes the Headmaster (Peter Jeffrey) and various other teachers. In short, Mick, Johnny and Wallace rebel against the whole sordid boarding school system and much rather sit in their rooms smoking fags, drinking vodka and fantasise about a revolt. This much becomes evident from the outset, as Mick cuts out politically themed pictures from magazines to decorate his wall with, and also shoots paintball guns at various figures in the posters, thus practising his shooting skills. Soon after, Mick and Wallace steal a motorbike from a local showroom and ride triumphantly through the countryside, where they end up in a café. There, Mick’s rampant fantasies once again take over when he wrestles with the waitress – simply referred to as The Girl (Christine Noonan) – in the nude after she slaps his face for acting impertinent. This sequence depicts both Mick and the girl in a state of animalistic lust during which the noises of primal mating behaviour can be heard, but no dialogue as such is spoken.

Back in the school, and after one sneer against school authority too many, the three young lads get caned by the ‘Whips’ (there’s irony for you), but Mick gets caned more severely than his two pals. Another dream sequence follows, though it could just as well be real. When the three friends clear out a storage room in the building, they come across an arsenal of weapons… prompting them to open fire from the rooftop on everyone below. It is Founder’s Day, when parents are coming to visit the school. In the ensuing fight, parents, teachers and other pupils fire back with weapons from a cadet force armoury… Meanwhile, the girl from the café joins Mick and friends in their fight for liberty and equality. In the final sequence, we see Mick’s face in close-up, and the words If… appear on the screen in blood red.

It should perhaps be pointed out that director Lindsay Anderson made If… in precisely the same year (1968) as France was troubled with student revolts and general strike and unrest. It is equally interesting to note that If… uses colour as well as b/w technique, thus giving the film not only the feel of a satirical drama but documentary.
Malcolm McDowell gives a bravura performance as Mick, whose sneering “don’t f**k with me” attitude and appearance are perfectly suited to irritate his arrogantly snooty superiors. No wonder that three years later, he was cast as ‘Alex’ in Stanley Kubrick’s iconic A Clockwork Orange.

As part of their acclaimed ‘Masters Of Cinema’ series, Eureka! released If… on Blu-ray for the first time ever, with a host of exciting Extras such as various interviews, three short films by Lindsay Anderson, trailers, booklet, commentary and gallery.