Brittannia Hospital (1982, UK)

After watching If...., I bumped Brittannia Hospital to the top of my queue. Along with O Lucky Man!, it's a companion piece with the first movie, and touches on many of the same themes - British tradition, corrupted power structures, and anarchy and rebellion among the young and underpriviledged. In addition, Lindsay Anderson also turns his focus on the position of the media in society and the rise of technology, here represented by the medical field.

Malcolm McDowell returns as Mick Travis, though he's not expressly the same character as the Mick of If..... If anything, Brittannia turns out to be even weirder than If...., with subplots involving cannibalistic African dictators, reanimated corpses, and the Queen Mum. It's not quite as cohesive as If...., and lacks its impact and energy, but Brittannia is entertaining as a satirical, absurdist farce, and for a retrospective look at the anxieties of British society in the early 1980's and the technological advances of medical science.