if....

At an English boarding school the senior boys effectively run the junior ones. Three students stop obeying the rules. The film deliberately blurs the line between what happens and what is imagined; whether some scenes are real is never explained. It moves between colour and black and white, and that choice gives the narrative a rhythm of its own. Lindsay Anderson directed. It is Malcolm McDowell's first major role. It won the Palme d'Or at Cannes. A real warning: the film closes on a revolt that ends in armed violence, and the beating scenes are long and detailed. Some detail may also stay closed without knowing the British institutions of the period.