If….

"These are the times that rot men's souls." Lindsay Anderson's anarchic, incendiary 1969 drama If…., set at a British boarding school where "the day's coming" for revolution against the tyrannical and sadistic Whips (senior students who wield the real power), stars Malcolm McDowell as Mick Travis (in a role he would later reprise in Anderson's O Lucky Man! and Britannia Hospital), who prepares to lead a violent uprising. Alternating between black & white and color, If…. (the title takes its ironic cue from the Rudyard Kipling poem) is at once grimly realistic and fantastically surreal—honored with the Cannes Film Festival's top prize and damned upon its release as "an insult to the nation." The Altamont of '60s films, If…. invites comparisons to Jean Vigo's Zero for Conduct (a 1933 film about schoolboy rebellion), but is more devastating and disturbing, particularly the harrowing conclusion with its contemporary reminders of the Columbine tragedy. The Grade-A extras on this Criterion Collection edition include an audio commentary by film critic David Robinson and McDowell, a 2003 reunion of the film's principals for the Scottish TV series Cast and Crew, Anderson's 1954 Oscar-winning documentary Thursday's Children (about a school for deaf children), and a comprehensive booklet featuring an essay by film critic David Ehrenstein, diary excerpts by screenwriter David Sherwin, and an archival interview with Anderson. Highly recommended. (D. Liebenson)[Blu-ray Review—Sept. 27, 2011—Criterion, 112 min., R, $39.95—Making its first appearance on Blu-ray, 1969's If…. features an excellent transfer and a mono soundtrack. Blu-ray extras are identical to the previous DVD release, including audio commentary by film critic and historian David Robinson and star Malcolm McDowell, a 2003 episode of the Scottish TV series Cast and Crew featuring interviews with McDowell, cinematographer Miroslav Ondříĉek, assistant editor Ian Rakoff, assistant director Stephen Frears, producer Michael Medwin, and writer David Sherwin (42 min.), director Lindsay Anderson and filmmaker Guy Brenton's 1954 Oscar-winning doc Thursday's Children, narrated by Richard Burton (22 min.), an interview with costar Graham Crowden (15 min.), and a booklet featuring an essay by critic David Ehrenstein and reprinted pieces by Sherwin and Anderson. Bottom line: a fine extras package for a classic ‘60s drama.]