"If..." - You Can Remember the Sixties?

A couple of months back, I bought the DVD of the acclaimed Lindsay Anderson film from 1968, "If", starring Malcolm McDowell.( If I'd known that I could watch it in full on YouTube, I wouldn't have bothered). It caused a sensation on its release, winning the Palme D'Or at the Cannes Film Festival in 1969. It was given an "X" certificate, and has been rated since as the 16th greatest British film of all time by the magazine "Total Film" in 2004.
The film's reception was heightened by the 1968 riots in Paris, the Grosvenor Square riots in London, the Prague Spring and a number of revolutionary conflicts around the world, most notably the Viet-Nam War. For those who have not seen the film, it concerns the alienation of, and revolution (more accurately, armed uprising) by three rebellious public schoolboys. There is the lover of violent revolution, Mick Travis (Malcolm McDowell), the eco-warrior, Johnny (although he says very little about green issues), played by David Wood, and the gay activist Wallace (played by the gay actor, Richard Warwick). These three nonconformists clash with authority on a number of occasions throughout the film, suffering degrading and painful corporal punishment, until they find a cache of automatic weapons and, in the famous closing sequence, open fire on a Founder's Day ceremony from the school roof, accompanied by two of the boys' lovers (one male, one female). As the school cadet force return fire, we are left with the unfinished question "If...", which in full is meant to be:
"If this were really to happen, whose side would YOU be on?"
It is easy to see why this film created such a sensation when released, which points to a misapprehension about the 60s. Real sexual and social revolution did not come about in Britain until the 1970s- the 60s was a time when the changes had only just begun. Instead of the "Swinging 60s", the period has been better described as "the 50s with mini-skirts" - which brings me back to the film and its political message. It could only shock because of the relatively conservative nature of UK society at the time. To me , it looked dated in 1978 - even more so now.
I do not wish to discuss the filmic and artistic merits of the film, as they are better discussed elsewhere. I do, however, believe that it has political and historic merits that have been overlooked. It depicts, symbolically, I believe, the "high-water mark" of the revolutionary Left in western society in general and Britain in particular (the "high noon" came at the end of the 70s). The key to the film's action is the "hero", Mick Travis, who covers the wall of his room with pictures of violent revolutionary struggle from around the world - and he loves it. As he says:
"Violence and revolution are the only pure acts".
This questionable utterance is a distinct echo of the thoughts on revolution of Mao Zedong, whose picture is on Mick's study wall. It is a romantic (in the widest sense) statement, worthy of Blanqui, Bakunin, or Mao himself. Mick expresses no sympathy or solidarity with the revolutionaries or concern for innocent civilians; he is in love with revolution itself. Do he and his fellow dissidents engage in struggle against the iniquities they see happening in their public school? Do they seek to organise the pupils of the school to improve conditions? Do they lead strikes, walkouts, sit-ins or protests? Alas, no, they resort to a gesture of futile violence.
 In this, they represent some on the far Left at that time who embraced the revolutionary ideal without wanting to join in more traditional workers' struggles over pay and working conditions. According to this view, drawing upon the theories of Herbert Marcuse, the working class in the west had become pacified by welfare reforms and brainwashed into docility by the mass media, especially television.
In order to jolt the masses out of their torpor, these "romantic revolutionaries" of the 1960s split in two ways. Most became Anarchists or Maoists, interested only in violent demonstrations and melodramatic stunts. Well, John Lennon never said truer words than when he wrote in the song "Revolution":
"If you go carrying pictures of Chairman Mao,
You ain't gonna make it with anyone anyhow".
The Maoists had vanished by the 1970s - I only ever saw one on all the demos I attended at the time. Only the anarchists remain, as an isolated, if annoying, minority. But then, there were anarchists before the 1960s.
The second, very small, group of "romantics" followed the example of Mick and his comrades in the film, by taking up arms to create revolutionary conditions and awaken the sleeping masses. This led to the emergence of urban guerrilla groups like the Weathermen and the Symbionese Liberation Army (USA), the Red Army Faction (West Germany), the Red Brigades (Italy) and the Angry Brigade (Britain). All these groups collapsed over time, never achieving a mass following.
All this, of course, happened after the film's release, and the film makers could not have been expected to foresee the future of such thinking. My judgement, I admit, is based on hindsight, but then, that is key to the writing of history. And "If", in more ways than one, occupies an important place in the history of the 1960s. If nothing else, it dispels the myth that the 60s were a time of "love and peace". To revise the old saying: If (that word again!) you can remember the sixties, you were there, but count yourself lucky that you survived intact - many others did not.