If.... (1968)

7.6	Listal rating
7.6	IMDB rating

Directed by

Lindsay Anderson

Starring (View all)

Mick: Crusaders

Johnny: Crusaders

Wallace: Crusaders

The Girl: Crusaders

Bobby Philips: Crusaders

Robert Swann

Rowntree: Whips

Hugh Thomas

Denson: Whips

Michael Cadman

Fortinbras: Whips

Written by

David Sherwin

(screenplay)

John Howlett

Cover art, photos and screenshots

5 votes

1 vote

View all If.... pictures (46 more)

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Reviews

Strikes a powerful cord

2 years, 5 months ago at Dec 25 8:26

PvtCaboose91

4 votes

"There's no such thing as a wrong war. Violence and revolution are the only pure acts."

Helmed by film critic-turned-director Lindsay Anderson, If.... is an acidic assault on the imbalance of power and an experimental ode to revolution. Due to the nature of the movie, the executives at Paramount Pictures hated it and subsequently shelved it when they first received the final product... read more

Great McDowell debut that lead to Clockwork!

3 years, 3 months ago at Mar 10 13:37

SJMJ91

4 votes

I was unsure what my expectations were going to be of this film at first because it seems quite a weird film but what draw my attention to If.... was that Stanley Kubrick was fascinated and inspired by Malcolm McDowell's performance which lead to Malcolm's part in A Clockwork Orange. Anyway about If...., I thought this film was just really good that had a lot of hard to watch scenes including some... read more

Interesting Enough, but No Masterpiece

3 days, 10 hours ago at Jun 15 10:40

thenoah

4 votes

This is a good Anderson film with some good acting and a very interesting scenario, but I'm afraid that's just about it. I'm not sure if this is like the deepest and most allegorical film I've ever seen or it's just a shallow piece of average storytelling. McDowell gives a very good performance, as does the rest of the cast, and while I did admire some its almost surreal (yet quite realistic) take... read more

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Release date : 27 August 1969

Drama (10), 1968 (7), British (7), Anarchy (7), UK (6), 1960s (6), Boarding School (5), Revolution (4), School (4), Shower (3), Bullying (3), Violence (2), Other Drama (1), Homoeroticism (1), Teacher Student Relationship (1), Existentialist (1), Cult Favorite (1), Dead Children (1), Motorcycle (1), Nihilism (1)

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thenoah posted a review 3 days, 10 hours ago

Interesting Enough, but No Masterpiece

“This is a good Anderson film with some good acting and a very interesting scenario, but I'm afraid that's just about it. I'm not sure if this is like the deepest and most allegorical film I've ever seen or it's just a shallow piece of average storytelling. McDowell gives a very good performance, as does the rest of the cast, and while I did admire some its almost surreal (yet quite realistic) take on bullying in English boarding schools, there were a number of scenes I despised, especially the one with the guy in the drawer. What was that all about? Also, I have no clue why they filmed in black and white, and the only realistic thing I've heard was that they were running out of money. They should have done something with the black and white if they were that desperate. I mean the scenes we” read more

arnott added this to a list 2 weeks, 3 days ago

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""If...." is a film that I feel I enjoyed quite a bit of, but found myself just not understanding it more often than not. I don't know if it's partly to do with not being an English schoolboy in the late 60s or the film itself not really following a through story line, mixing fantasy and reality and never letting the viewer know which is which. But I certainly can't blame this film for not engaging me totally, because I know that the potential is there, and some people will and do absolutely love"

arnott added this to a list 1 month, 1 week ago

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