If….
June 20, 2007
Sigh, blissfully.
My absolutely favorite film when a disaffected and alienated teen is finally out on DVD. This is Lindsay Anderson’s If…., the partly realistic and partly surreal story of a group of young (and incredibly beautiful) boys rebelling in a 1960s British boarding school. Anderson was inspired by Jean Vigo’s 1933 film Zero de Conduite, also a surreal view of a boarding school rebellion.
The year If…. came out I went to see it over and over and over. I bought (and still have) the screenplay. I bought (and still have in a closet) the Missa Luba — the African mass the main character Mick plays over and over compulsively.
… and I also fell madly in love with the actor who played Mick, one Malcolm Mcdowell.
Sigh again.
I’m dashing out shortly to see if my local video store has it so I can take it along to watch on the train to DC and to wave it at everyone I see so they will know to get it too. Oh, and if there is anyone interested in joining my Malcolm Mcdowell If…. Fan Club, let me know (as I will then email you a membership card). So far it is just me (president) and Brenda Bowen (member number two).
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1.
Ben | June 20, 2007 at 9:51 am
Can I be member number 3?
2.
medinger | June 20, 2007 at 10:13 am
Done. Who wants to be member number 4?
3. Scorn and Noise » If.... | June 20, 2007 at 10:26 am
[...] I’m member number 3. New scum should go and sign up now. [...]
4.
Mortdecai | June 20, 2007 at 10:55 am
I’m number four. I hope. Marvellous!
5.
david e | June 20, 2007 at 2:27 pm
Five is my lucky number (O Lucky Man) but as a matter of full disclosure I’d be a Malcolm McDowell fan for any of a half dozen of his early movies, Including If… Hopefully that doesn’t disqualify me.
6.
medinger | June 20, 2007 at 8:04 pm
No, David, it sure doesn’t. I mean, there are surely Malcolm McDowell Clockwork Orange Fan Clubs (and if not I can only say humph) as well as ones for him in so much else.
Five; wow! And the boys outnumber the girls so far.
7.
onlycrook | June 24, 2007 at 12:52 pm
Thanks for the news about *If*. It’s one of those films that stuck with me, and I’ve only seen it once (back in the 1970s, I think). I added it to my Netflix list today.
8.
overnighteditor | June 28, 2007 at 7:39 pm
I was a BIG fan of MM back in the day. Even sat through Britannia Hospital. But O Lucky Man… and Helen Mirren towards the end.
9. Movie Maniac « Only Crook in Town | July 18, 2007 at 10:39 am
[...] frequently a couple of years behind the original release dates). Monica Edinger blogged about If’s release so I moved it to the top of my Netflix list. When I watch a film on DVD, I view every [...]
10.
Michael | September 29, 2009 at 5:03 am
Crikey, I remember this movie. I have it on VHS some place in fact, but haven’t seen it since we moved house a number of years ago. What a cracker.
Also, isn’t that the same guy who was in Clockwork Orange? What a fabulous (but very messed up) film that was.
- Mike
Carl Zeiss Binoculars