If .... (with four dots, apparently) was an avant garde and frequently surreal film made in 1968 directed by Lindsay Anderson and starring Malcolm McDowell. It was set in a boys' public school which was intended as a metaphor for Britain at the time. The system is rotten and corrupt. Three of the senior lads rebel and, with a girl met in a transport cafe, stage an armed attack on guests assembled for Founder's Day. The film proved quasi-prophetic, being filmed (though not released) weeks before the French students rioted in Paris and young people across the western world rebelled against the establishment. It won the Palme d'Or at Cannes.
I was only eleven. when If.... premiered. I came to the film late, when I was at a boarding school in many ways identical to the one shown in the film; I first encountered the film as a published screenplay in the School Library. It was one of many influences which prompted me (already a square peg in a round hole) to rebel against my surroundings.
David Wood was a young actor who played one of the rebels. This short memoir describes how he was chosen for the role and gives a blow by blow account of the filming. It ends with a 'where are they now?' He himself has had a long career acting, mostly in theatre, and writing playscripts and some filmscripts mostly for productions aimed at children; he wrote the screenplay for the 1974 films of 'Swallows and Amazons' whose filming is described in Sophie Neville's memoir The Secrets of Filming Swallows and Amazons.
Filming If .... is a well-written account of the production of a film that has achieved cult status.
November 2023; 83 pages
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