If...

Jennings 2022-01-11 08:02:19

The British boarding school, which emphasizes honor, discipline, and obedience in the film, is a large brainwashing place. The decent leadership tries to tame and humiliate students with doctrine and etiquette. The prolonged oppression and unfair treatment made the protagonist Travis and his friends finally embark on an extreme road of revenge. The film was shot in the year of the May storm, and the radicalization of the students in the film may also be a reflection of the trend of thought of the times. Travis has youthful rebellion and the consciousness of life to death. He is innocent and romantic. When looking through pornographic magazines with friends, he kissed pictures of naked women and said that facing such a girl, he should walk into the sea naked together, make love once, and then die. I think this is also a kind of extreme beauty.

When I first met my girlfriend in a coffee shop, the tiger dance was accompanied by tribal music, exuding a strong breath of wild freedom. The various portraits/symbols that Travis posted in the study were eventually targeted by him and knocked down one by one.

View more about If.... reviews

Extended Reading
  • Jairo 2022-03-26 09:01:10

    A good college-themed movie that ends with a school shooting. The director handles the music (the only theme song) and some of the psychedelic techniques of the plot very well. Malcolm once again interprets the rebellious youth very authentically after Clockwork Orange.

  • Elbert 2022-03-15 09:01:05

    D+/ I watched it directly without knowing anything beforehand, and then I felt that within 24 hours I watched another work that was overwhelmed by the scattered script. And behind this disorganization are various meanings that have been prepared for a long time, so the so-called critical feeling is always piled up from the shallowest surface. I don't know if it counts as a feature of film critics' films. Fortunately, there is "A Clockwork Orange" and "Elephant". The most significant meaning is probably the year of shooting.

If.... quotes

  • Mick Travis: When do we live? That's what I want to know.

  • [after lights-out]

    Mick Travis: [whispering] Stephans. Whatever you're doing now... don't.