The seventh installment of Michael Apted's British documentary film series, 49 Up, arrives in U.S. theaters today. For many, they have been waiting patiently for the last seven years for this day to arrive.
For those of you who have never heard of it, the series started as a Granada television project, with Seven Up being broadcast in 1964. The film took its name from the old Jesuit adage, "Give me the child until he is seven, and I will show you the man." In the film, fourteen British schoolchildren were interviewed at age 7, and they (or most of them, depending on the year) are re-interviewed every seven years, at ages 14, 21, 28, 35, 42, and now of course, at 49. While the adage has proved somewhat true, there have been a number of surprises along the way, with some stark turnarounds, both positive and negative, for the participants.
Apted has directed all but the first film, on which he served as a researcher and was also instrumental in selecting the participants. He keeps in touch with each of the participants throughout their lives, and their participation in the project is completely voluntary, although they are paid for each film. Some choose to not participate for one installment, only to return in the next.
What started out as politally-inspired exploration of Britain's social class system has become a fascinating, emotionally-charged series, and the experience of watching it is difficult to describe, with each viewer taking away something very different, I'm sure, based on their own life's experiences.
While archival footage is often included in each new installment, I'm not sure how a new viewer coming in at 49 Up would fare in terms of being emotionally invested in the lives of the participants. Watching from the start (and the movies are available now in a DVD set), you can see it all... the fulfillment of destiny, the rise to prominence, the dashing of dreams, the waste of potential, and the coming of age.
As the physical effects of aging begin to make themselves very apparent in this current installment, I'm sure many viewers will look ahead with some trepidation to the next installment seven years from now, 56 Up.
