Quartile rating: 7.5/10 · 1 rating
In an English boys' boarding school, social hierarchy reigns supreme and power remains in the hands of distanced and ineffectual teachers and callously vicious prefects in the Upper Sixth. Three Lower Sixth students, Wallace, Johnny and leader Mick Travis decide on a shocking course of action to redress the balance of privilege once and for all.
Lindsay Anderson's 'if....' is a landmark of British cinema and the Free Cinema movement, blending realistic and surrealist sequences — including abrupt shifts to black-and-white photography — in a way that remains formally distinctive and daring. The cinematography by Miroslav Ondříček is genuinely exceptional, capturing both the oppressive institutional dreariness and dreamlike rebellion with striking visual intelligence. Novelty is high because the film's fractured, collage-like structure and its satirical ferocity give it a singularity rarely matched in British cinema of any era. The plot itself is effective but somewhat episodic — more a series of vignettes than a tightly constructed narrative — and the allegorical escalation toward the climactic shooting lacks some dramatic grounding. The acting is solid and naturalistic, with Malcolm McDowell's breakthrough performance as Mick Travis being particularly compelling, though the ensemble is uneven. The ending is deliberately ambiguous and provocative, functioning more as a revolutionary image than a satisfying narrative conclusion, which is by design but limits its emotional resonance.