A One of a Kind Cinematic Life Journey With The Up Series

In 1964 U.K independent TV aired the 40-minute documentary Seven Up. Made by Granada Films, the documentary featured fourteen children from various backgrounds across England. The directors, Micheal Apted and Paul Almond intended it to function as a forecast on the country in the year 2000. The film brings together five children from affluent families, two from children’s homes, four from working-class east London, two middle-class boys and a lad from the countryside.

Initially, the film was intended to give a cross-section of English society and a projection on the future of the country, as Almond explained back in 1964 “the executive and the sales clerk of the year 2000 have now 7 years of age”. However, after the completion of the first film Apted continued the project and followed up with seven more installations of the series, recorded once every seven years.

The films are composed of interviews with the participants and Apted himself asking them questions regarding their dreams, aspirations, happiness as well as thoughts on politics, class, religion and education. The structure uses parallels and contrasts the answers the participants have at different ages, looking for the though rough lines, the elements of the person that remain unchanged and what has changed.

Originally the series had a political stance and wanted to prove the strict rigidity of English class division, however as the series progressed the films became more personal and took an existential motif. One story that is particularly interesting is that of Nick Hitchon. Born on a small farm in the north of England Nick was schooled in a one-room school four miles from his home. From the first film he displayed an interest and increasing curiosity and spark. The series also tracks his progress as he later studied in Oxford and became a nuclear physicist.

At the time of the first film’s release, England was undergoing significant political changes. In 1964 the Labour party won the general elections ending a decade-long Conservative rule. In cinema the free cinema movement and the kitchen sink cinema where in full sway. Class distinctions, bringing attention to the working class where the topic of foremost interest. Seven up and seven plus seven reflect the class-driven narratives, and productions of the time by focusing on the differences between the participants and how their childhood influenced their teenage years.

A deterministic point of view was so ingrained that the filmmakers hypothesis was in line with the Jesuit motto "Give me a child until he is seven and I will give you the man” meaning that Apted and Almond were effectively trying to prove that a person from a given class would remain in that class for their lifespan.

Interestingly enough, later films disapproved this strict class immobility for several of the participants, most notably Nick and Niel. Nick coming from humble origins to become a professor of nuclear physics and Niel going from middle class to squatter to Disctrict councilor in North England. However, it is the three girls in the group that experienced the class immobility the hardest. All three married at a young age and became housewives.

This political and class vein continued in 'Seven Plus Seven', however starting with 21 Up the films took an interesting twist and began focusing on more personal, more intimate questions and dealing with existential matters. With this reflective point of view, Apted also began to explore the influence of the films on the participants. As the series progressed he began asking the participants about their thoughts on the films themselves and how they had changed their lives.

Perhaps the most interesting aspect of the series if how each one of the participants has a certain quality that never changes. The 56-year-old Nick is still full of wonder and passion for knowledge and science as he was when he was 7 years old. Susy Lusk is still somewhat of a taciturn low-key person, same as when she was a child. Niel continues to be a subversive, thoughtful person. In his case, however, this defining characteristic drove him from conventional society into counter-culture during his youth and vagrancy during much of his adult life. It is this core, this unfaltering, unchanging core of the person that the up series reveals and exalts. It illustrates a center, a point of reference and anchor in the individual. Around this anchor thing change.

The wishes, aspirations, some opinions, and political views change in time but at the core, these people are essentially the same. The case of Bruce Balden is a great example of this. From Seven Up we see a child that is sensitive, aware of the world around him and with an impulse to help change it for the better. Bruce at 56 shares this quality, and did, in fact, dedicate his life to educating others.

From a cinematic point of view the films are quite simple, usually, the interviews take place in a room or show the participants in their everyday lives. The interaction between Apted and the participants becomes warmer, closer more intimate as the series progresses, and in fact, it does seem that the difference between filmmaker and participant becomes less clear. Through his questions and comments, Apted himself became a very active participant in the films. It is as if he is also being interviewed, the questions and comments he gives change in time also track his progress, his personal growth. This is perhaps one of the most valuable aspects of the series. That it is an exercise on how films are both a representation of reality and a direct influencing tool to create meaning and reality.

One of the series' most poignant effects is that as you watch these people grow, from child to teen, from teen to adult, you get a sense of your own life passing. Their stories bring you back to your own, and watching their childhood dreams evolve, change, in some cases become shattered and in others materialize one can't help but reflect on one's own path, the places where one has been and what lies on the road ahead.

Cheers to you all on your own journey.

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Here's the first film in the series Seven Up

IMDB

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