runamokprods The 'Up Series' represents one of the most fascinating and unusual uses of film in cinema history - a documentary life-long chronicle of the lives of 14 people starting at 7 years old, revisiting them every seven years through age 49 (so far). While I could quibble, wishing for a bit more depth here and there (especially with the women, where there's a bit too much emphasis on love and marriage at the expense of all else), it's really an astounding, moving, frightening and uplifting document. There's no way to watch this remarkable series of films without reflecting deeply on one's own life, and how you have changed (and stayed the same) over your own lifetime. While Michael Aped deserves every bit of credit he's received for this amazing piece of cultural anthropology, it's important to note this first film, 7 Up,was actually directed by Paul Almond, and Apted was a that point a researcher for the project.

MrGKB ...the "Up" series, or "The Up Series," or whatever you wish to call it, is not only Michael "Gorillas in the Mist" Apted's lifework, his calling card of calling cards, it's also one of the greatest documentaries produced so far. Nothing like it had come before, and all those after are but reiterations of a theme, perhaps worthy in their own right, but unlikely to outshine the progenitor of the form.Said form is multiple life histories at seven-year intervals: in this instance, fourteen British children (now reduced to twelve and possibly declining in future installments), all of whom are (as of this chapter, 2005) in their late-40s, heading into their 50s. The next meeting of the minds, so to speak, will hopefully come to pass before the supposed Mayan end of the world. I have no doubt it will be as thought-provoking and entertaining as the rest.That the series is utilized in various academic circles goes without saying; it's a time machine, a remarkably honest window on the past half-century of Western civilization, British style. Its sociological value is enormous, and it has spawned a number of similar projects examining German, Russian, American, and other populations. I hope they all have extremely long runs.Enough of the blather you'll read in any standard review of this series. What did *I* think? Well, I found it to be pretty damn fascinating. Had at best heard of it peripherally until I saw a recommendation recently from a source I respect, and so ordered up the whole ball of wax from the local library (yes, folks, your library is one of the best values your tax dollar has to pay for!), and watched it start to finish over the course of several weeks. The drawback to viewing the series in this manner is the amount of repetition of "flashback" sequences in each person's revealed timeline; occasionally it's irksome. But you come to accept the necessity of it, given the nature of the project. I suspect the series is of more interest to an older cohort for obvious reasons, which is not to say the young can't profit from it, but they'll simply have a more difficult time empathizing with it to the fullest. A stop-motion picture of aging will always appeal more to those who've been along the same path than the ones who have yet to travel it. I found myself considering my own life as if I'd lived in similar fashion. That, and I noted how easily one is drawn into the progression of these dozen-odd lives. This is "real" Reality TV, not the crap that most of you reading this have come to endure as a staple of modern entertainment.All the subjects of "The Up Series" are interesting, each in their own way, but you find yourself drawn to favorites. No doubt this is unordinary, since even Apted admits, in how he structures the later episodes, that some are more popular than others. One even wonders how this structuring itself somehow affects the viewer's perceptions of the individual; no doubt theses are being writ even as I type. Taken in large doses or small, "The Up Series" will exercise your brain and your heart, and if nothing else leave you with a better understanding of just how alike all members of the human family really are.

tedg I have to admit that this series is at least historically significant, and on that measure alone you should dive into it. But I would recommend seeing this one alone.The first few really did ping on a very simple and obvious class dynamic, more of interest to an English audience going through a reinvention. The subjects were treated less as people than as examples of a national pool. The poor kids turned out to be low class nitwits and the rich kids differing only in being rich nitwits. Then in the middle, Apted decided that it really was about individual lives, and started to hammer away on the changes in life. The editing got successively more tedious as we were given more and more facts. After a few in that phase we ended up with 42 Up, absolutely the worst of the lot. Its because it had more Apted than subject. Like his subjects, he hadn't grown much at all, and while his subjects mewed on mostly about motherhood, it became obvious that it was an obsession of his as well. So that last edition was just hammering away on the maternal glue of the family, presuming that we will all relate and extend the notion on our own to the things that matter in our lives. Or alternatively collect around them whatever voyeuristic pleasures you wish. But this one at least is good film-making. It has a center and economy which all the recent ones lack. And it has something new: self reference. Nearly every one of the dozen is asked about how the series affects their lives. The answers are the best part, in fact the only thing that I find mildly interesting.That's because there is no great window into class dynamics here, no window into anything other than a dozen peoples' lives. And they are profoundly uninteresting people, people with no ideas, no real souls. People with nothing to offer except local goodness. The problem is that they started with 14 kids and are stuck with them, no matter how vapid their lives are. I suppose that's the appeal to some, but I wish they had started with ten thousand children, picked the ones with lives or souls, even tragic that could tell us something and then worked backwards.It doesn't change me at all, and I find none of these people remotely interesting. I can get the same, more humanly in real life every day.Ted's Evaluation -- 3 of 3: Worth watching.

harvmel560 Everyone in the world should have the treasured opportunity to watch these brave souls grow up before our eyes. I recommend all the films beginning in 1963. Certainly the class system is exposed as the monster it is, but I do find increased options for the children of the "less born to privilege", 49 year old subjects.I love the reticence and modesty of the subjects in this film. They seem to grasp the massive cultural contribution they are making but prefer not to think about it. I applaud the subjects for saying that they want to drop out but I do hope they ultimately don't. In this day of fake reality TV, it is wondrous to see the power of the Real McCoy of documentary film/TV. I am close enough in age to the 49 ups. Through them I have a brilliant record of the world I grew up in and that of my English family. Bravo for an historic act of courage and generosity by all concerned.