"If" offers a compelling depiction of life in what appears to be an upper class British boarding school for boys. Unfortunately, in the end, I also found it somewhat unsatisfying and largely unresolved, leaving too much open-ended. This is reflected, I suppose, in the title itself. I'm not quite sure what "If
" is supposed to suggest. If what?The story revolves around the character of Mick (played by a very young Malcolm McDowell in a memorable performance.) Mick is a bit of a rebel, whose rebelliousness grows as he's exposed more and more regularly to the harshness of life in this place, culminating in his being caned along with several others for having a poor attitude. It's also at that point when the movie begins to break down a bit, though (the caning being what I thought was the climactic scene of the movie.) The downward spiral began immediately after with the scene in which the naked woman walks through the dorm (for no apparent reason that I could see) and then descends through increasingly bizarre scenes, culminating in a very violent ending which really didn't resolve anything because we don't know how the confrontation depicted ended.
There were other factors that made this movie a bit difficult. Chapter numbers and titles may work well in a novel, but not quite as well in a movie. The scenes in this are separated by those divisions, and the end result was that the story was a little bit rough and lacking in flow. Director Lindsay Anderson also used a strange blend of black and white with colour throughout the movie, and, again, there didn't seem to be any clear reason for why certain scenes were filmed in B&W. Again, it was ultimately distracting and took away from the flow of the movie.
Even with those weaknesses, though, this was a very interesting and watchable movie. Whether it's an accurate depiction of what life in such schools was like in 1968 is an open question. If it was, then it's surprising that such things didn't happen more often in real life! It's well worth watching, and offers a clear reflection on the rebellious nature of the 1960's in general. 6/10
There were other factors that made this movie a bit difficult. Chapter numbers and titles may work well in a novel, but not quite as well in a movie. The scenes in this are separated by those divisions, and the end result was that the story was a little bit rough and lacking in flow. Director Lindsay Anderson also used a strange blend of black and white with colour throughout the movie, and, again, there didn't seem to be any clear reason for why certain scenes were filmed in B&W. Again, it was ultimately distracting and took away from the flow of the movie.
Even with those weaknesses, though, this was a very interesting and watchable movie. Whether it's an accurate depiction of what life in such schools was like in 1968 is an open question. If it was, then it's surprising that such things didn't happen more often in real life! It's well worth watching, and offers a clear reflection on the rebellious nature of the 1960's in general. 6/10