The Up Series (Michael Apted, 1963 - 2012)

[Scharphedin2]

As part of my viewing of '70s films (in anticipation of the lists poll in May), I watched the first few films in the Up Series on Friday. Then, having travelled with the characters in the program to the age of 21, I was simply not able to leave the rest of the series for another day, as I had originally intended, but over the next few evenings viewed the rest of the series, ending with 49 Up last night.

For anyone not familiar with this on-going project, the British Granada television division produced a short documentary back in 1963 entitled 7 Up. The premise of the program was an old Jesuit maxim, that if shown a child at seven, you will essentially see the adult person that they will become. Clearly, it was a further intent of the original program to bring an indictment at the British class system, which so clearly offered its young a system of unequal opportunity.

A total of fourteen children from all strata of British society were introduced and brought together in the initial program. They were interviewed about such questions as education, family, class, and their general hopes and expectations for the future.

Michael Apted was a fledgling filmmaker in his early twenties at the time, and had one of his first jobs in the industry working as a researcher on the original program. In 1970, he went back and revisited the 14 children of the original program, picking up the threads of their lives, and interviewing them once more on generally the same topics as in the first program. In the finished film, he juxtaposed footage from 7 Up with the new footage he had shot, showing the subtle and not so subtle changes in the children’s attitudes toward their lives and the future. Every seven years ever since, Apted has gone back to these people, and documented their paths through life, always including in each successive instalment, flashbacks to the earlier episodes, and creating a fantastic sense of the progression of these lives. What may have started as a snapshot of the British nation in 1963, has developed into a huge fresco of the human condition at the end of the 20th and beginning of the 21st centuries.

We do see the effects of the class society, as it propels each individual down a certain path in life, but as the series progresses, the class system would seem to become less significant in the people’s lives. Meanwhile, with each successive instalment in the series, we are witness to strong changes in the socio-economic climate around the people. Apted never really dwells on these changes, and he does not have to, they are very clearly there for the audience to see. What becomes clearer and clearer throughout the series is Apted’s strong commitment to these people, and to documenting the progress of their lives, and it is this that is so incredibly rewarding about the series. What makes up a life? We see these individuals, who came from such disparate backgrounds, as they struggle with the same issues in their different ways. We see their successes and failures in terms of education and career, love, marriage, and family; and, we see them struggle with the death of loved ones, the upbringing of their own children, their relationships with their spouses, as well as their very personal challenges in terms of psychology, limitations of ability, health, dreams and ambition. We see them attempt to answer for themselves the questions of justice, faith, and what constitutes the good life. We see them achieve goals, and we see life catching up with them, and sometimes pass them by, as they age.

I cannot remember ever seeing another film, or series of films, where I was so deeply involved in the people on the screen. With the beginning of each episode, seeing again those faces of the children as seven-year-olds, I felt the strongest sense of hope that everything good would have happened to them since the last film. There were moments throughout these films, when I found myself almost with tears of joy in my eyes, as were there times, when I had to pause the films, and take a break, because some of the realities of these lives were almost too much to bear.

I must admit that I am exhausted after viewing all of these films within the space of 4 days, and definitely not able to relate all my thoughts and feelings about them at this moment... I do think there are many things worthy of discussion relating to this project, and I would really like to hear other forum members’ opinions of these films. Particularly, it would be interesting to hear from some of our British friends, how they perceive this portrait of their country and people, and also, how these films have been received locally. It is fairly clear from the later episodes that the participation in these films has impacted some of the people both positively and negatively, and I am curious to hear any further insights on this aspect of the films.