Review of if.... (1968) by Kendall I — 13 Apr 2013

This is perhaps the film that best conveys narratively and stylistically the new breed of revolutionaries that was arising at the time of its release. With a wink towards the punk culture but mainly drawing inspiration from student uprising, the film follows life within the walls of the College House, a typical British boarding school, where some students rebel against the system.

Using some non conventional techniques such as the unceremonious mixture of black and white shots with colour ones, and a strange unsettling and satirical ending ala Zero de Conduite, the film is not only an essential Anderson work, but also essential in all of British filmography and one of its most incindiary.

McDowell as the main rebellious subject was born to play this role as much as he would be a year later in Kubrick's A Clockwork Orange. One of the best works on teenage angst towards society.