2005 installment of a documentary seriesRating: 14/20
Plot: Filmmaker Michael Apted films and interviews a couple handfuls of seven-year olds. Then, every seven years, he finds them and checks in with how they're doing. In this installment, they're forty-nine and, for the most part, pretty boring.
My main problem with this is that I don't really like human beings all that much. This is definitely a case where I like the idea of a movie better than the actual movie. Filming people every seven years? That sounds like a fantastic idea. I can see that being a profound and maybe even humorous experience, glimpses at the human spirit, microcosms of humanity that we can watch and learn more about ourselves. Unfortunately for Michael Apted (and me, I guess), these people are really boring. It's probably because they're English. Out of the ten or so folks who were interviewed for this series, there was really only one guy I enjoyed learning about or wanted to find out more about, a guy who at thirty-five was homeless. He was interesting. I can't really imagine anybody wanting to spend time with any of these other people. For somebody who hasn't seen 7 Up through 42 Up, these biographies were a little on the sketchy side, too. I was most amused when the subjects seemed angry at Apted and lashed out at him. Perhaps they were having difficulty figuring out the point of all this just like me. This has more depth than a reality television series, but it's got that same kind of voyeuristic feel that modern television audiences seem to like. Only there's not a Kardashian sister in it. There's something fascinating about watching people age, and I think I would have liked this a lot more if I had followed the series from the beginning. And maybe if this particular collection of people weren't so dull.
Funny, and I can see your point. I asked myself just now whether I really cared about any of the subjects, and I didn't. This film and series still remain a very interesting sociological exercise. It is not particularly profound to say that generally you can see the adult in the kids, but it was interesting and fairly sad. I mainly enjoyed seeing the children in flashback, knowing what they would become. This is a 16 for me, and for some reason I was thinking you might find it more interesting (mostly because of it's uniqueness, I suppose). Sorry.
ReplyDeleteIf you have not seen "To Be or Not To Be", which is on this week on TCM, then that would be the replacement. If you have seen that then I would choose "Deliver Us From Evil", a laugh-a-minute doc.
I have 'Deliver' taped. I'll watch 'em both.
ReplyDeleteIn a way, the evolution of these figures was sad. They don't exactly fulfill the dreams they seemed to have as seven year olds. However, for the most part they seemed content with where they had ended up. They all had their tough times (divorces, death of parents) but had gotten to a place where they could feel comfortable. There were some subjects I felt a little sadder for though.
Have you seen the earlier movies in the series?
Only "7 Up" which is a much shorter and more basic film. I would give it a 14 or 15. It is fine, but lacks any of the poignancy of the later doc.
ReplyDeleteHmmm, I saw my first up film in college, was it 35? That would make sense. I found it amazing. I love the experiment and the movies. As I am finding more and more I am not a critic and have a hard time explaining why, and am forgoing notations (decimals and everything!)... I'm going gut, I love these films.
ReplyDelete