If.... (1968) review

(9/10)

This was a very interesting film to watch. It made me think a lot about what could happen. This was smart, realistic, and a fairly new idea for the time period it was released.

PLOT:Mick Travis (Malcolm McDowell) is a senior student attending a private school in the English society. Travis is very rebellious and doesn't follow the crowd. Along with a few of his friends, Travis starts to plan a revolt to rise up against the harsh adult rule in the school. Starting with the simplest means of defiance, he sparks up a bloody revolt. It's a great plot executed excellently.



ACTING:The acting in this film is very great. Malcolm McDowell does a brilliant job as defiant and rebellious student, Mick Travis. McDowell was clearly the star of the show and ruled his part. None of the other characters were as memorable as he was. The other shiners would have to be David Wood as Johnny, Richard Warwick as Wallace, Christine Noonan as the girl, Robert Swann as Rowntree, Peter Jeffrey as the Headmaster, and Hugh Thomas as Denson, even though there really weren't any bad performances in the film.

SCORE:The score in this film is made up of a few interesting films, some hymns, and a few songs sung in a choir. The score is really well done and everything else is fairly well-arranged I'd say.



OTHER CONTENT:This was a very interesting film overall. It left me with a lot to think about. The idea of a school rebellion is actually very realistic nowadays. Back then, this idea was a fresh spark into all viewing minds. I like the whole realism to it now, and I appreciate the controversy it received back then. Laced throughout this film, also, was a lot of dark humor, good dialogue, and shocking moments. I also liked the editing of putting certain scenes in black-and-white while the rest was color. However, there were a few parts of the film I didn't necessarily get the point of or understand. Those kind of threw me off for a bit.

OVERALL,an awesome film with a brilliant plot, very great acting, well done score, a realistic plot, appreciated controversy from its release date, dark humor, a good script, some shocks, and good editing, but some parts of the film lost me.