If The Up Series of documentaries are the greatest documentaries ever made, it is because it is the finest document of life ever recorded on film.
Every seven years since 1963, Director Michael Apted has done little more than check in on a group of 14 people. He’s been at it since they were 7 years old, and now in 2012, they are 56 and the latest chapter of the series has just finished airing on ITV in England.
Apted has asked about their hopes, dreams, loves, marriages, children, politics, ideologies, jobs and families. He asks about life.
His questions are short and simple, always delivered calmly and with resolve, and yet they require some soul searching in these people every seven years. Their answers arouse memories and emotions. Through their responses in each film, we are given the opportunity to draw comparisons. We can see the child they were and the adult they have become.
No documentary has ever been this ambitious. It is likely no team of filmmakers ever will again, although there have been copycats of this series from around the globe.
But the real beauty is that these are ordinary individuals. They are as true to life as you and me. At the age of seven, they did not choose this spotlight, and some have abandoned it altogether. They were chosen because they were people, and life, above all, is something that deserves to be documented, viewed and cherished.
Below are the stories and developments behind all seven films, excluding the most recent, which has not yet been released in America.
Seven Up!
“Give me a child until the age of 7, and I will show you the man.” Continue reading “The Up Documentaries”