If....

And it's not Travis! I've always hated the type of public school rebel portrayed by Travis. The finest rebels are those who stick with but subvert the system they despise. George Orwell (Eton) was such a person, who made fun of those who claimed to have been scarred by public school, or 'four years in a tepid bath of snobbery' as he called it. I admire far more the character of Mike (?) who finds release in his astronomy.

Having said that, I did find the film an excellent satire on the type of person who loves rules and regulations for their own sake - these people exist in every walk of life. But attempting to defeat these people by hysterical overreaction such as that of Travis merely results in them clamping down further.

I also realised how much Monty Python's Meaning of Life draws on the film - during the chapel scenes I could have sworn Arthur Lowe was going to stand up and intone 'Oooooh God you are so big!'

What we don't see from the likes of Lindsay Anderson is a similar satire on state schools, with their equally vicious and degrading practices. The nearest I've come to seeing this is the excellent 'Kes'.