Macro Study Essay
"If…" (Lindsay Anderson, 1969)

  Although based on an existing book, "Crusaders" by David Sherwin, "If..." (1969) is 
nonetheless a highly personal film for director Lindsay Anderson, using for its 
location and backdrop Anderson's own alma mater Cheltenham College. In an 
indictment of the British Boys School, we follow student Mick Travis (Malcolm 
McDowell) and his friends Johnny (David Wood) and Wallace (Richard Warwick) 
though a series of indignities and occasional abuse as those fond feelings towards 
school life are shattered in the film's shocking climax.

  The film could be classified as a drama in terms of genre and, as with any film 
narrative, operates around a system of cause and effect. As a convention of the 
Classical Hollywood Narrative style, every scene is linked and motivated; nothing 
extraneous is shown or discussed. Everything that is presented helps to guide the 
spectator in their reading of the film. However, within this structure of cause and 
effect, the film is divided into sections, rather like the chapters of a book. Thus the 
film acquires a fractured narrative form. This is immediately disturbing for a 
mainstream audience imbued in a realist text. In structuring the film in this way, 
Anderson breaks away from the common conventions of the drama genre, perhaps 
allowing the film spawn a genre all of its own. As the narrative progresses in this 
fashion, elements of the Western and Romance genres are present, owing to the film's 
climactic shootout-style ending and the intervention of The Girl (Christine Noonan) 
as a symbol of sexual release for the protagonists. Further links to the Western genre 
are made through the close bond between the three main characters; they form a group 
of outlaws or rebels who are fighting for a particular cause, in this case against the 
public school establishment of College House. The significance of The Girl appearing 
in the final "chapter" of film could also be that she acts as a metaphorical trophy for 
the protagonists, signifying the rebels' violent triumph over their oppressors. 
More deceptively, however, the film stock changes from colour to black and white at 
frequent intervals within the film, such shifts provoke a need in the viewer to discover 
and possibly explain the "code" behind these shifts. Anderson's explanation at the 
time was simply that of economic constraints; the production company could not 
afford to film in colour all of the time. Whatever the explanation, the consequence is 
foreground to the process of narrative and production throughout the film.

  The chosen clip is taken from within the sequence entitled "Ritual and Romance" 
that occurs roughly half way through the film. Lasting approximately 9 minutes 20 
seconds, the clip charts Mick and Johnny's defection away from school grounds and 
into the nearby town, escaping from the boundaries of repressive school authority. 
After having stolen a motorcycle, about 4 minutes into the sequence the boys arrive at 
a transport café and meet a character known as The Girl who works there. At this 
point, the clip shifts from colour to black and white. Mick plays a record at the 
jukebox and while that music is diegetic, it echoes that played in a previous sequence. 
The type of music used also suggests an attempt to break away from the conforming 
elements of society. Mick and The Girl then engage in play/loving/wrestling. This 
short sequence soon passes, and the characters emerge as if unfazed. This 
communicates to the audience that the character of The Girl is perhaps an 
embodiment of the boys' fantasies away from the repressive surroundings of the 
school. She is a symbol of spiritual and sexual freedom for the boys and a potentially 
liberating force within the film itself, as she appears in the final chapter entitled 
"Crusaders", appearing in scenes which are again shot in black and white. This 
perhaps betrays the audience's knowledge of what is real and what is fantasy within 
the world of the film. The clip then returns to colour as the trio head off out onto the 
country road. The entire sequence ends with a fade down and a caption signifying the 
start of the next chapter. 

A far cry from the London of the "swinging sixties", the film was released in 
February 1969 to a wide acclaim. The 1960's were a politically and radically 
explosive time of social upheaval, giving expression to political and social discontent. 
On its release, "If…" was perceived as a film of its time, and achieved something of a 
cult following. Despite its allegorical attack on the establishment, contemporary 
audiences came to see the English public school in the film as a metaphor for 
contemporary Britain. 
Anderson has become particularly noted for his involvement in the Free Cinema 
movement. The concept behind this was the belief in freedom, in the importance of 
ordinary people and in the significance of everyday life. In the style of Social Realist 
cinema, filmmakers such as Anderson, Karel Reisz and Tony Richardson captured a 
naturalistic and unscripted look at England, in particular the working classes, 
initiating a new trend for British cinema.

Although there is usually a characteristic unity of style within films of this genre, the 
black and white sequences lend an almost drama-documentary veneer to the chosen 
clip. Similarly they also suggest a split between reality and fantasy. Alongside these 
sequences there are also conventional narrative strategies involving continuity editing, 
such as direct cuts expressing the movement of continuous time within the sequence. 
Within the fractured narrative form running throughout the film, the narrative in this 
sequence appears to be constructed along the conventional lines of cause and effect. 
The students are instructed to attend a school rugby match; cut to the game and they 
are not there; cut to the town where the boys have rebelled and are seen drifting; cut 
to a motorcycle showroom where they steal a bike and head out onto the road to meet 
The Girl at the café. There, the characters continue to behave in the debased, 
chauvinist way the audience have come to expect from the narrative so far, a result of 
the oppressive nature of the school institution. From this, audience expectations are 
met and knowledge of the genre is achieved. This scene commences with narrative 
continuity, albeit in black and white. The nature of the scene being shot in this way 
has almost fantasy-style connotations; do we accept the truth of what we see on 
screen, or are we to read this random sexual encounter as mere fantasy? If this is so, 
then we are perhaps to read the subsequent scenes in which The Girl appears within 
the school setting in a similar light.
McDowell also featured as a character of the same name in "O Lucky Man" (1973) 
and "Britannia Hospital" (1983), both written by David Sherwin and directed by 
Lindsay Anderson. Although strictly not portraying the same character as in 
"If…", the character of Mick Travis became a metaphor for young people who 
rebelled against the system. Indeed, as in "Britannia Hospital", College House has 
become metaphorical for repressive institutions and overbearing tradition in the face 
of 1960's rebellion.  


1
Rebecca Andrews
AS Film Studies