This film was released in 1968-year of rebellion.A story about life in a public school split into several parts.Of particular interest to me as I went to private school from 1964-1971 as a dayboy.A truly British Film with lots of good character actors-for example Geoffrey Chater and Peter Jeffrey.Whilst a film very much of its time,it hasn't dated at all.Malcolm McDowall is excellent-one of his best.A classic with fantasy mixed in with reality-some of those things happened in my school-but not final chapter on speech day.Buy it-you won't be disappointed.

this film really does show that us brits can make an absolute materpiece. this 1968 film shows us what it was like if you lived in a strick english boarding school. it shows a young malcolm mcdowell performing his best role ever and lindsay anderson using some obscure strange scenes which are'nt used these days. the fact that some parts of the film are shot in black and white are purely because of the low budget even though the director uses blank and white in the scenes that work best in black and white. if....only there were such outstanding films nowadays eh ah well

Interesting & haunting.I have not seen it for years but I can remember it as though it was yesterday.The music is still ringing in my ear's ....."Sanctus".A child of it's time but still relevant today.

This is a truly fascinating, gripping and exhilerating piece of work. Set in the stuffy confines of a traditional boarding school, three wayward pupils plan revolution.

The piece is held together by an early, spellbinding turn from Malcolm McDowell, playing the leader of the rebels. The climax is stunning and unforgettable.

A landmark film.

First released to the big screen in 1969 this film was a shocking look into public school tradition and the teenage minds of its characters. Today it has lost none of its impact with Malcolm McDowell playing in his first big screen role and, what is for me, probably his best. The film is split in to sections, each examining a different 'aspect' of public school life. Bullying and rebellion in various forms are clearly illustrated with the infamous final scene living out every schoolboys one time fantasy. Christine Noonan adds mysterious female interest with much of her character's past left for the audience to speculate over.
A first class film that shows the time of its age without ageing.

"If" was (also) shot at Aldenham School, Elstree. Although, I do have a lot of fond memories, the massacre scene was set outside the school dining hall, mirroring perhaps some of the food I remember eating there as a kid (1985-1990). More me being a fussy eater than the catering, probably. Quite strange to watch.

I remember watching a film as a teenager about teenagers all trying to be men before their time, that film was IF....This film is both brilliant and harrowing in it's realism of the pecking order that existed within the school system at that time..No doubt Lindsay Anderson draws on his own thoughts and experiences for the storyline returning to the scene of the crime so to speak "His own school"..Here he creates Mick Travis a subversive rebel as it turns out,played with a cool assurance by the inspiring Macdowell..The main theme of the film is control over others and those who are brave and strong enough to fight against it..Culminating in the final scenes of what can only be described as the victory of free spirit and individualism over the bureacracy of the system.
Intrestingly Macdowell returns in the sequel O'lucky man! to draw on as Anderson did in "IF",his own life's experiences..We also await this film release on dvd to complete the trilogy of Anderson greats..

Five stars for the Criterion version and 5 stars for the film itself. And 5 stars for the peolpe that finally got this released on DVD!!

But, how can anyone review this particular DVD when it hasn't been released yet?!

The Criterion version is on sale now, admittedly more expensive than this version will be but, with more in depth material.

By all means review the film itself, but how do you know that this version on DVD is not flawed?

A lot of surreal sixties/seventies films tend to go too far and lose the viewer in their bizarreness. This is not one of those films.

The film is a strange mix of comedy, drama, surrealism, realism and psychedelia. I won't ruin any of it for you by giving examples, but let's just say if you are amused by the absurd, you should be pleased with this.

As far as the drama goes, as another poster mentioned, it is a very gritty film. There is a unique insight into the private boarding school life and is particularly intriguing for people like myself who are too young to have witnessed this type of behaviour at the time.

The film has strong undertones of homosexuality, but never going to a degree where it is explicit. There is also a surreal heterosexual sex scene in the film, which I will let you discover for yourselves.

If you think you will like an incongruous mix of surrealism and realism in a surprisingly accessible dark comedy-drama then definately get this film.

I had a VHS tape of this film recorded from the BBC aeons ago and had just about given up hope of ever seeing it on DVD. Finally this seminal film about public school life is available to the unwashed masses. A gritty well-filmed (apart from the lapses into black and white when the money ran out!) story about frustrated teenagers in a just-postwar public school. A great cinema-verité style gives a wholly authentic view of what it was like to be in a boarding school at the time. All the roles are well-acted, the masters especially well. I recognised several characters similar to the ones at my old school. Did the same sadistic and eccentric types inhabit all public schools? The pupils were far worse-behaved than at my school, perhaps I didn't mix with the right (wrong) groups. All in all, a great film, a definite must-see. A pity the star ratings only go up to five stars...