| Director Michael Apted`s evolving film, the longest-running documentary project in history, began as a study of the influence of class on schoolchildren in England. In SEVEN UP (1963), Apted interviewed 14 seven-year-old children from vastly different backgrounds. He visited the same group of children every seven years, charting the changes in their lives. In 42 UP, the sixth film in the series, the subjects have grown up, entered the middle of their lives, and experienced dramatic reversals of fortune. Although three of the participants have removed themselves from the spotlight, the remaining voices paint an enlightening, honest picture of love, life, death, success, and failure. Going beyond the notion of merely recording history, the documentary is unusual in the effect that it has had on the participants` lives. In some cases, friendships have formed between the subjects; in most other cases, the documentary has forced them to be more reflective and aggressive as they anticipate the seven-year ritual. A simple but powerful portrait of 14 lives, the SEVEN UP series is Apted`s most groundbreaking work; the documentary has already inspired similar projects in many other countries. |
