If….
Looking at some of the clips of If…. (1968) I’m smacking my lips at the prospect of seeing again this extraordinary evocation of a fictional, extreme but utterly authentic contemporary public boarding school, with its arcane rituals and stringent rules designed to control the boisterous wilfulness of hundreds of teenage boys, from the chaotic day of arrival after the summer hols to the grand finale of the closing ceremony, with parents and dignitaries in attendance, unaware of the ever-escalating campaign of pranks being conducted by the charismatic rebel Mick Travis and his acolytes, who reject the authority of the arrogant prefects and pompous staff. Malcolm McDowell electrifies the screen in his first major film role, living out the fantasies hatched by writer David Sherwin in this extended essay of revenge at the absurd and abusive education system which he, McDowell and director Lindsay Anderson experienced. The stunning results inspired the three of them to collaborate on two further equally trenchant feature films, O Lucky Man! and Britannia Hospital, which I’m less enthusiastic about.
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0063850
https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/if1968
The Flower of My Secret
Somewhat lost amid the prolific output of Pedro Almodóvar, The Flower of My Secret (La Flor de mi Secreto) (1995) is less flashy or provocative perhaps than his biggest hits, but for me a drama that I can more easily sink into, with a very sympathetic central character, played by the highly expressive Marisa Paredes, who is trapped in a stifling career as a writer of pulp romances and a rocky marriage to an often absent officer in the NATO armed forces. By this early middle period in the famed Spanish director’s work there is a sense of assurance that whatever the artistic flourishes, the quirky characters, the sometimes surprising detours which give his films their characteristic flavour, he is carefully spinning out a core thread that skilfully recounts a personal journey with sincerity and sensitivity. This is the abiding if very hazy impression that I retain from my viewing many years ago.
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0113083
https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/the_flower_of_my_secret
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