"The Up Series - 49 Up" (Documentary) (2005) - Movie Review

In 1964, Paul Almond with his then research crew with Michael Apted in it, started out what is now the most compelling, truly realistic and invigorating life experience for the people in and outside of it, “The Up Series”. The series started with choosing 14 then age seven kids in UK, varied in different financial classes of society. The team interviewed them at the age seven and from then on re-visited all of them every seven years. The recent addition is the “49 Up” and the kids getting older and wiser, as they stand in front of a life seen almost yet expecting full of surprises.

After “7 Up”, Michael Apted took on the most excruciating and painful task of carrying this series and making it one of the most meaningful series ever witnessed in the film industry. In “49 Up”, the viewers see almost all of the people whom they would have been following for the past 42 years. Apted as usual does his technique of letting the person doing the raw and beeline details in a very light and impressive tone. I will not go through analyzing the fact of each and every person in the series and how they have developed. The movie does that strenuous task very skillfully and issuing the absolute justification of the purpose of the films.

This is one of the most influential series of documentary films, the industry has been seeing for quite a long time. The image which cuts through the screen is not the life of 14 people but the life of the viewers. Of course it may not be who they are and what they are, but it is the actions of the world and themselves reacting on their lives. As the chain of circumstances paves way in to all of their lives of eventuality of family and children, there is this undeniable fact of interesting and harsh realisms what the viewers learn from it. The movie does not talk about their internal turbulence of emotions in deep manner as the sometimes gruesome reality shows does. Rather it is something “what you see is what you get” factor which cuts out yet reaching the deep meanings reeking out from the participant’s mind.

Before stating the intensive meaning of the series, significant amount of appreciation goes to the people who made all this possible in over the span of 42 years. It is yet not complete and the next installment is supposedly to be out in 2012 or 2013. Editing is the defining element in documentaries, which fills up the cabinet of the film flow in an unambiguous way. These films shoulders the 14 personalities whose reflections and journey towards their life in the past seven years need to be laid out with total commitment which could not have been possible without a gleaming editing as this. The idea of sequencing each person in a particular order does bring the brightness and sullenness demanded by a documentary.

“The Up Series” as said earlier is the reflection of everyone’s life. As I watched all the films from “7 Up” till “49 Up” within a span of one week, I had the luxury of growing up till 49 within that short period of time. Even though if one can understand and grasp most of the important aspects what the film “49 Up” is providing, I would go ahead and strongly recommend to watch all the previous films before this. As it may give the viewers the impression of by far the most emotionally expressive “The Up Series” ever, this film would not have been possible without those previous six amazing films. There will be no doubt that “56 Up” will be even more emotional and touching as there unfolds lot of cruel truths in life and also their encounter into the unpredictable end of life.

While the movie can be flexed by how the viewers perceive it, Apted achieved something far from it from this real life interviews at various stages of life. The achievement is making the audience confront themselves and maybe coax a little bit into their past mistakes. The film opens the doors of discussions rather than pointless regrets and resentments. The start of the discussions with their loved ones and also towards the broken relationships of their life. This film is not a comparison of the personalities but the underlying common facts in all of their lives. The series propels the concept of how life turns around for each one of the people in the world. It accelerates and breaks the life into hope, destruction, loss, love, hate and the seeing themselves in their off springs. The film lightens up the dark places with muddy compositions in the viewers’ hearts with lucidity of how life of them is right and wrong when it is viewed as an outsider. It is not a documentary of those 14 courageous people who are letting millions of people to know their lives every seven years, but it is their candidness. The candidness, which identifies the stumbles in their journey and assist them on how to pick them up to keep on going.

“The Up Series” is not yet complete. It is one another giant and impressive step from its previous films. For first time, in this series, the viewers will be able to see how Apted has grown along with them. Apted’s chemistry with them which makes him ask the most sensitive questions for which anyone else would be shunned off easily. It is the trust and bond Apted shares with these people that make them open up without any concerns and touch the viewers.

The usage of the art to visualize the life kaleidoscope of various personalities to get a glimpse of them is innovative and creative. I am greatly honoured and obliged to Apted and the people participating with their loved ones in this series for providing the most enlightening and compelling documentary in this era of film making.