Final Rebellion – If…
James Dean was the “rebel without a cause” of his generation in America, but over in Britain, no actor spearheaded the counter-culture revolution with such daring wit and charisma as Malcolm McDowell. If you are an avid film fan, you have likely seen his outstanding, deeply haunting portrayal of a madman in A Clockwork Orange. If you are a very avid film fan, you have likely seen an ideological precursor to that film that also stars McDowell: Lindsay Anderson’s deeply controversial If….
Believe it or not, this terrific film and shock to the system was McDowell’s feature debut. He stars as teen rebel Mick Travis, who spurs some incendiary reaction at a British boarding school when he clashes with authorities and incites a rebellion. That troublesome revolt occurs in the film’s final scene, which could be viewed as disturbing in a time when school shootings are still, unfortunately, common in North America. Since there were massive student protests in France in May 1968 – around the same time If… won the Palme D’Or at Cannes – it is obvious that the film struck a nerve.
The climactic firefight between the rebellious students on the rooftops firing at huddling students, professors and administrators below, is an arresting sequence. It doesn’t flinch to show dead bodies or how quickly the people both above and below administer guns to help their side. The savagery is instead a satire – and it is suggested that the events are all part of Mick’s fantasy – but for its time, the sequence was quite subversive. The action in the scene was thought to spawn imitative behavior.
For blurring the line between fantasy and reality, the sequence is challenging and uncompromising. Unlike the Cossacks from the Odessa Steps sequence, we identify as much with the ferocious fighters on the roof as with the victims rushing onto the field, looking for protection and then retaliation. Nearly 50 years after its release, the bold, empowering film about disenchanted youth remains a relevant counterculture classic.
