[56 UP
opens in Cleveland on Friday March 8th exclusively at the Cedar Lee
Theatre.]
Review
by Bob Ignizio
Every
7 years, for the past 49 years, the UP
series has checked in with 14 average British citizens from various
walks of life to see how life has treated them. With the exception of
the first film, 7 UP,
all of these installments have been directed by Michael Apted (Paul
Almond directed the first one, but Apted was involved in selecting
the subjects), maintaining continuity not just in terms of subjects,
but style and point of view as well. In that time, the film's
subjects have gone through many twists and turns and ups and downs in
life. Some have bowed out for a few years only to pop back in, but
surprisingly no one has died and only one subject (Charles) has
dropped out apparently for good, leaving after the third installment
21 UP.
One
need not have seen any of the previous films to appreciate this one,
as there are ample enough flashbacks to put things into some kind of
context. Of course the context is dictated by what Apted finds most
interesting and important, pointing out that here, as in all
“reality” programming and films, the degree to which reality is
shaped by those observing and recording it. Even some of the film's
subjects complain about the way they are presented on film and the
effects that has had on their lives, notably Peter, who was pilloried
in the press for criticizing the Thatcher government, and who dropped
out of the project for a number of years because of that.
Whatever
its shortcomings, the sheer scope and ambition of a project like this
makes it worthy of notice in and of itself. No matter how much what
we see has been shaped in the editing room, the fact remains that
little pieces of human truth come through. 3 out of 4 stars.
I thought this was the least notable of the series. It just seemed like not much transpired between 49 and 56 in the lives of the subjects.
ReplyDeleteThis was the first of the films I've seen, actually, so you may well be right. I'd guess it may be kind of the natural result of the subjects getting further along in years. A certain number of them are just going to start slowing down. Seeing how that plays out can be interesting from an anthropological view, but perhaps not so much from a film watching point of view. Still, this being my entry into the series I found enough here to hold my interest.
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