If.... – DVD review

Lindsay Anderson, 1968

Eureka

Elaborate hierarchies; jostling for supremacy among the herd; eating, preening and courting rituals: Lindsay Anderson’s lacerating satire on English public school life at first resembles an ethological study. But then the spirit of Nouvelle Vague and 1968 sweeps in. An unholy trio of rebels rises up led by Malcolm McDowell, his face already smeared with a Clockwork smirk. This Blu-ray edition boasts new interviews with numerous cast and crew, including the writers who recount early reactions to their script: “perverted and evil”, they “should be horsewhipped”.