if....

Me and Sophia popped into Video Difference yesterday. They have an amazing selection... from the new releases to independent, foreign, classic, documentaries... Sometimes it can take me ages to select something. Me and Phi discussed how we must see A Clockwork Orange as it is one of those movies everyone has seen, but we weren't in the mood for something really weird. Sophia pointed at a movie with a handsome boy sitting in a "Godfather" pose, and told me I'd probably like that film, as it is the same actor in A Clockwork Orange and is less strange, but still interesting.
Her recommendation was as good as any, so I decided to get it along with There Will Be Blood. Sophia got The Shawshank Redemption to show her boyfriend who hasn't seen it. I think The Shawshank Redemption is an excellent movie, but I tend to feel a bit apprehensive about something that so many people love because it makes it feel impersonal.
Anyway, I watched if.... this morning. It did not disappoint, it had surrealist scenes, along with an excellent performance by Malcolm McDowell especially considering it was his first leading role in a film. It is considered part of the Counterculture movement in the 1960s.
It took place at a prestigious English private school, where traditions of old still took place. Within the main character, Mick's 6th form there were certain students given a higher rank of "whips" who were able to hand out corporal/other punishments to their peers. One night the whips strike Mick's friends 4 times each, and 10 times to Mick because of their lack of spirit. I don't want to spoil the ending of the film, but what does end up happening, to me it is not clear whether it actually happens or if it is Mick's imagination.
I believe this will be a film that sticks in my mind for a long time...