synopsis:

Rebellious students at an English private school plan a violent revolt against their repressive environment in this highly acclaimed but extremely controversial drama.

A new term begins at a public school somewhere in the heart of England. The boys of College House find their places and settle into their dormitories: the headmaster, Mr Kemp, introduces a new master; the school settles down to the routine of chapel, lessons, games; junior boys known as 'scum' dance attendance on the house prefects or 'whips'. One of the senior boys, Mick Travis, pastes up magazine photographs on the walls of his study and drinks Vodka with his friends Johnny and Wallace.

One afternoon, while the rest of the school is watching a college rugby match, Mick and Johnny escape into town, steal a motor-bike from a showroom, and ride off to a roadside café, where Mick dallies with the girl behind the counter.

Back at school, Mick and his friends are beaten by the Head of House, Rowntree - not for a specific breach of regulations, but for their general attitude. For Mick, who receives more than the regular number of strokes, this is the breaking point, and he and his friends mingle blood in a ceremony of solidarity against authority. During a Cadet Corps field exercise Mick shoots and bayonets the college chaplain; the headmaster is displeased, but offers the rebels a chance to redeem themselves.

Set to work clearing junk beneath the floor of the college hall, they discover a forgotten stack of arms and ammunition. Speech Day arrives, and as the guest of honour, General Denson is addressing the boys and their parents, smoke begins to creep up from under the floor of the hall. Boys, parents, masters, and guests pour out into the quad to be met by a hail of fire from Mick and his allies, who now include the girl from the café. The headmaster steps forward and is shot down; General Denson leads a counter-attack...about this movie:'if...', starring malcolm mcdowell, david wood, richard warwick and christine noonan, paints a distinctly negative picture of the British school system and, by extension, English society. it is a surrealistic depiction of a bloody uprising by students against the adult world.

Daring and unpredictable in content and form, 'If...' mixes color and
black-and-white cinematography as easily as it mingles satire with dark fantasy. The film's ambiguous attitude toward violence caused controversy at the time, as many commentators saw the film as a potential incitement to
violence.

It became a great success among younger, counter-culture audiences who appreciated the audacious shock tactics and embraced the satirical, anti-establishment message.