UP series

Description

Title: The UP Series
Director: Michael Apted
Release Dates: 1963 to 2005
File Type: mp4
Total Runtime: 12 hours 21 minutes

Included is each 7-year installment
Seven Up - 1963
7 Plus Seven - 1970
21 Up - 1977
28 Up - 1985
35 Up - 1991
42 Up - 1998
49 Up - 2005

Why am I me and why not you? Why am I here and why not there? Cross-generational questions asked of the same individuals by Michael Apted (Gorillas in the Midst, Gorky Park, Coalminer's Daughter, Continental Divide, et.al) over a period of 35 years. Ponder how much of these changes are due to western civilization, or perhaps the particularly English notion of social class.

Give me the child until he is 7, and I will give you the man" is the Jesuit maxim that was the kicking-off point for the most fascinating sociological record ever put on film. In 1964 the producers of 7 Up interviewed 14 children from varying social backgrounds, and every seven years since then film director Michael Apted (a researcher on the initial program) has checked in with them as they grew up. 42 Up, the 1998 installment, is in many ways the most contemplative and satisfying of the series, even though three of the original group have opted out of this round.

On a superficial level it's a study of an inflexible class system and the compromises, shifting values, and changing priorities of the people growing up in it. Apted (who now has seven generations of footage at his disposal) enjoys cutting between youthful dreams and aspirations and adult realities, but what was ironic effect in earlier chapters now takes on a more thoughtful and contemplative perspective. At mid-life the subjects (most of them now husbands, wives, and parents) have a mature perspective and a philosophy rooted in a life lived, while Apted, who has literally grown up with these people, brings a sensitive appreciation to their experiences.

Followers of the series will enjoy revisiting some of the more colorful and personable characters and will find a gratifying sense of hope in the turnaround of social dropout Neil, but no previous viewing is necessary to enjoy this portrait. 42 Up finds the remarkable humanity and strength of these ordinary people and their everyday lives, and that's an accomplishment few films can boast.

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Critics about this documentary :

Brilliant! The Up Series is on my list of the ten greatest films of all time! - Roger Ebert

"One of the towering achievements in the history of documentary film." - Philadelphia Inquirer

"Wondrous, astonishing!" - The New Yorker

"An ever-evolving masterpiece!" - Los Angeles Times

"The spectacle, as in time-lapse photography, of human beings taking shape before our eyes. Amazing!" - Vogue

"One of the most rewarding and uplifting films I’ve ever seen. It makes you feel better about the human race." - London Sunday Times

Cinema's longest-running and most fascinating experiment. - The New York Times

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