Punchy, poetic pic that delves into the epic theme of youthful revolt.
if. . . . is ostensibly about a rigid tradition-ridden British private boarding school for boys from 11 to 18. The film blocks out a series of incidents that lead to a small group rebelling with mortars, machine guns, gas bombs and pistols. Film is divided into chapter headings as the boys arrive for a new term.
The teachers, nurses, housemasters, etc., are all fairly typed characters but never descend to caricatures, which is true of the many students.
There is a romantic dash during the early part of the film in the growing insistence of three rebel friends that all is not right in this caste-ridden school. But there is never any sentimentality, which makes the film’s veering to a bloody revolt acceptable.
Film is a generalized tale of revolt. The violence is symbolical and reflects and comments on it rather than sentimentalizing it or trying to make it realistic.
