Big Boredom

“The thing I hate about you, Rowntree, is the way you give Coca-Cola to your scum, and your best teddy bear to Oxfam, and expect us to lick your frigid fingers for the rest of your frigid life” (Mick Travis, If…, 1968)

If you were to ask a selection of your friends to state their political leanings, the majority would probably respond with liberal. It does sound good mind you. Favorable to reform; charitable; tolerant and open minded. Terms that are characteristic of this great democracy we live in.

Let's not fool ourselves though; we live in an apathetic culture masquerading as liberal. We are governed by a political party that preaches liberalism yet remains cemented to the centre ground. The age of celebrity has bred a generation of disengaged and idle abstainers, merely waiting for their next fix of Big Brother (itself a cultural and artistic term lost on them).

Equally lost is the presence of any real reactionaries within the film scene at present. Lindsay Anderson's If... was released at the end of the 1960's, a period of fervent and passionate change. Class, capitalism and post-war angst were key issues that angered Anderson. The iconic image of Malcolm McDowell defiantly leading an uprising against his authoritarians in If..., is a visceral visualisation of such anger.

If… can be seen as one of the final films of the 'British New Wave'. A picture heavily influenced by the films that preceded it, kitchen sink dramas such as Look Back in Anger and Saturday Night and Sunday Morning, and 'Free Cinema' such as Refuge England. All these films can be identified as revolutionary. They went against the grain of typical British films of the time in order to comment on the country that they lived in. They were deeply personal films that stood as a voice for a generation.

It’s a shame that the voice of our generation is deathly silent. The news is forever reminding us that we are living in an unstable time, one of religious discord and social breakdown. Yet British cinema seems relatively stale at present. Artistic freedoms seem swamped by conservatism. Ken Loach aside, there are not too many directors who are willing to confront these issues with any purpose or originality. No director seems willing to use the liberal beliefs that are apparently privileged to us, in order to comment or assess our country. Instead they prefer to collect the dollars that Batman Begins or Hot Fuzz brings in to them. Hopefully they will delve in to their pockets and spend some of the fortune on If... when it gets its DVD release on Monday. Maybe then they will understand just how powerful and provocative British cinema can be.