13:00 ; Friday, 15 July 2011
CHRONOLOGICALLY: #1
I've finished my A Level exams. I can breathe easy. I've also accumulated a list of films/programmes I've been meaning to watch all through that terrible exam period - and I'm just finally getting round to watching them all.
Firstly is the film "If..." (1968). Someone on my Facebook posted a link to a trailer and I was hooked on the 1960s aesthetic feel - it's incredibly surreal and part of that "British New Wave" movement in cinema. Directed by Lindsey Anderson, the film is set in a 1960s public school and satires the whole system of that kind of life. I'm a little unaware of it myself, but I think the traditions, deference and pomp of the boys being turned out is well-shown. In context, "If..." was produced during the counterculture/decadent society (depending on your views on life) and can be seen as an allegory - the ending mirrors the catasthrophic student uprisings of the 1960s!
The film casually switches between black and white, and colour scenes, which disconcerted me quite a lot - but it's so surreal that it worked in its favour. I can imagine that British sitcoms like Green Wing and Teachers obtained some influence from this. My favourite part is when Mick and Wallace steal a motorcycle and drive to a lonely little cafe, it's very surreal but more than enticing.
Look at me. Look at my eyes. I'll kill you. Sometimes I stand in front of the mirror and my eyes get bigger and bigger. And I'm like a tiger. I like tigers.
Labels: 1960s, British cinema, film, history, If..., Malcolm McDowell, photos

About me
1) I'm a lazy blogger
2) This blog will generally include writings on films, music, books, fashion, locations, and other worldly movements.
3) I'm short and the best thing I have learnt to combat this is sewing.
4) I'm very bad at html things. Sorry if the layout looks nothing like it should be.
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