49 Up

Biography, Documentary

Bruce Balden	Himself
Jacqueline Bassett	Herself
Symon Basterfield	Himself
Andrew Brackfield	Himself
John Brisby	Himself
Suzanne Dewey	Herself
Charles Furneaux	Himself
Nicholas Hitchon	Himself
Neil Hughes	Himself
Lynn Johnson	Herself
Paul Kligerman	Himself
Susan Sullivan	Herself
Tony Walker	Himself
Michael Apted	Narrator / Interviewer
Peter Davies	Himself

Director	Michael Apted
Producer	Michael Apted; Bill Jones

The premise behind the Up series is deceptively simple: take a cross-section of children at age 7, ask them about their hopes for the future, and then return every seven years to mark their progress. However, the results of these experiments, launched in 1963 by Britain's Granada Television, are anything but mundane, and their revelations about society, maturation, and the human condition were compiled into six extraordinary films, packaged together for the first time in this five-disc set. We meet the 14 children whose lives we will follow for the next 36 years in Seven Up, a episode of the television series The World in Action and directed by Paul Almond. What becomes evident almost immediately is that class and background will have an indelible effect on the kids for the rest of their lives; the upper-class boys and girls seem confident to the point of boorishness, while the middle- and working-class children seem resigned to a life of hard work or inevitable failure due to their backgrounds.

Fascinated by the footage, Almond's assistant, Michael Apted (later the director of The World Is Not Enough, among others, and president of the Directors' Guild), proposed to revisit the subjects every seven years, and in 1970, 7 Plus Seven was released, followed by 21 Up in '77, 28 Up in '84, 35 Up in '91, and the most recent entry, 42 Up, in '99 (Apted plans to continue the project). And the changes that occur to the original 14 (some of whom drop out of the project) are among the most fascinating and often tragic ever recorded on film. Success, failure, marriage and childbirth, poverty, illness--almost every possible element of the human experience passes before Apted's camera. And while each of the children's stories is riveting, the viewer will undoubtedly be gripped by that of Neil, a shy boy who endures incredible hardships. A one-of-a-kind series and sociological experiment, The Up Series is required viewing for not only documentary fans but any viewer with a curiosity about and concern for their fellow humans. The DVD set includes commentary by Apted on 42 Up. --Paul Gaita

“Give me the child until he is seven and I will give you the man.”

Starting in 1964 with Seven Up, The UP Series has explored this Jesuit maxim. The original concept was to interview 14 children from diverse backgrounds from all over England, asking them about their lives and their dreams for the future. Every seven years, renowned director Michael Apted, a researcher for Seven Up, has been back to talk to them, examining the progression of their lives.

From cab driver Tony to schoolmates Jackie, Lynn and Susan and the heart-breaking Neil, as they turn 49 more life-changing decisions and surprising developments are revealed.

An extraordinary look at the structure of life in the 20th century, The UP Series is, according to critic Roger Ebert, “an inspired, almost noble use of the film medium. Apted penetrates to the central mystery of life.”

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

"Like time-lapse photography, with each face revealed at a new phase to create a chronicle of life, 42 years in the making." - Good Morning America

"Riveting...grand!" - The New Yorker

"One of the supreme creations of documentary filmmaking. Riveting!" - Salon.com

" ENTHRALLING! Apted has constructed a peerless, suspenseful work that develops character to a depth that would make Tolstoy jealous." - New York Post

"Easily one of the most fascinating sociological experiments in not just film history but history itself." - Premiere Magazine

"AN EVER-EVOLVING MASTERPIECE! A buoyant surprise, richer and more textured than its predecessors. More than a deeply satisfying movie; it’s a reminder of the wonder contained in ordinary lives. A stunningly comprehensive document of life in the late 20th century and at the turn of the millennium, 49 UP is more than a film. It’s an affirmation of life that feels like a gift." - Los Angeles Times

"Moving and ambitious in scale like nothing else in cinema." - Village Voice

"GRADE: A. 49 UP is a precious document, and must viewing." - Entertainment Weekly

"With nearly a half-century of footage at his disposal, Michael Apted has created a film that manages in a little over two hours to capture the leapfrogging of joy and loss that marks time's passage. A MUST SEE!" - O: The Oprah Magazine

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