The adventures of public school boy Mick Travis as he faces the obstacles of being in a lower year. This was the first of the Mick Travis films and looks at social class in Britain by setting society within a house in a public school. Travis represents the middle classes, trapped below the upper, ruling class, represented by the seniors and the staff, with only the worthless working class, juniors, below him.
This sees Travis taking on the upper classes and refusing to yield totally to their ruling system. However his superiority towards the juniors is also seen, but not judged as much as I though it should have been. The story is quite thin in terms of actual narrative relying on the social commentary to give meaning to the film. This can make it quite frustrating for the first half until the meaning starts to become clearer.
The cast is well filled out with British actors and Malcolm McDowell is excellent in the lead. The story may not be to everyone's taste - indeed the heavily armed retribution Travis may have taken on his school may not seem such a fantasy now and might not be something everyone can view as harmless fairytale (even if it is metaphor for rising up over the ruling classes).
As a film it doesn't totally convince but as a message about social standings it is very well observed in not totally to everyone's taste.
This sees Travis taking on the upper classes and refusing to yield totally to their ruling system. However his superiority towards the juniors is also seen, but not judged as much as I though it should have been. The story is quite thin in terms of actual narrative relying on the social commentary to give meaning to the film. This can make it quite frustrating for the first half until the meaning starts to become clearer.
The cast is well filled out with British actors and Malcolm McDowell is excellent in the lead. The story may not be to everyone's taste - indeed the heavily armed retribution Travis may have taken on his school may not seem such a fantasy now and might not be something everyone can view as harmless fairytale (even if it is metaphor for rising up over the ruling classes).
As a film it doesn't totally convince but as a message about social standings it is very well observed in not totally to everyone's taste.