The Up Series | DVD Review

Back in 1964, fourteen seven year old British children from vastly different social-political backgrounds were brought together, asked about their lives, views and futures to ‘get a glimpse of England in the year 2000’ for Seven Up, the first in a monumental series known as The Up Series.  Their cute and carefree assemblage proved to be a startling portrait of class contrast.  Since the first program aired almost fifty years ago, director Michael Apted has revisited each of those willing to continue to participate in the groundbreaking docu project, giving us a brief update on their lives, professionally, romantically, socially and beyond, and in doing so has created a work of socially pervasive art that not only digs into the lives of its subjects, but also the conscience of its audience.  In questioning these aging men and women, Apted seems to be challenging us as human beings.

Are we doing the best we could be?  Have we done the best we could have?  Do we have any regrets?  What is different about your life and the world since the last time we’ve spoken?  These are the types of questions that seem to circle back around every seven years, and though they are directed at the fourteen subjects, they reflect upon us as onlookers and we are forced to reevaluate our own lives as if part of the cast.  Through his calmly direct inquisition, Apted broaches the kind of conversation you’d carry on with best friends you haven’t seen for some time.  You’d cover all the general bases of everyday life and finally dive into the emotional nitty-gritty, knowing both parties need the cathartic release of intimate divulgence between friends.  This is the incomparable beauty of Apted’s undertaking.  Because we’ve seen them grow up, traverse the awkward quagmires of aging and (mostly) transcend the pitfalls of youthful arrogance to acknowledge the gifts that each of them possess in their own ways, we’ve come to feel like they are indeed old friends who need to purge the emotions of the past seven years.

Each one, though differing wildly in worldview and life choices, has become almost effortlessly relatable in Apted’s hands.  Tony Walker, the stout family man from the East End of London, is easily the fan favorite of the bunch, following his heart, chasing his dreams, and all the while accepting life’s realities with gracious appreciation.  He’s a hardworking man of old school values whose admittedly made mistakes (cheated on his wife), but has risen from a lower class background to upper middle class with a growing family who he obviously adores.  And despite his racially profiling commentary on the changes his neighborhood has undergone throughout the years, he comes off as a genuine people person who both laments the past and accepts the present with open arms.  Some of Apted’s subjects have financially done better than Tony, some worse.  Some had marriages that didn’t make it through troubled waters as Tony’s has and some remarried in their wake.  Some have yet to find someone to settle down with and some flat out can’t settle down.  Though fourteen is a tepid number of potential life paths, it’s a perfect number to squeeze into two hour updates, allowing brilliant comparisons and cross paths to transpire.

What began as a program attempting to convey social differences has transformed into a personal portrayal of human nature and the inevitability of progression for better or worse.  The original program ended with the quote, ‘Give me a child until he is seven and I will give you the man’, and at the age of seven these former children proclaimed what they wanted in life, only to find much later that what they professed as goals have often come to fruition in adulthood.  A miracle of movie magic or the striking authenticity of Jesuit phrase?  Maybe a bit of both, but all is the story of modern human life.

Disc Review:

Without further examination, we are indebted to First Run Features for collecting all eight of the Up films into one concise seven disc package, but unfortunately there are some serious faults found in the AV presentation of several of these discs.  For each of the films, excluding 49 Up and 56 Up, the image suffers tremendously from gittery framing, a variety of varying contrast issues, general blurriness and plenty of visual artifacts such as dirty and such appear throughout the films.  As the first presented in widescreen, 42 Up in particular is tragically on display.  The display cuts off on screen name cues as if the film itself were supposed to be zoomed out, but after much fiddling with every conceivable setting to correct the issue, it seems to be the disc itself.  Not only that, but there are multiple issues with the DVD chapters, occasionally seizing up, cutting to a silent black screen before moving on the next chapter.  However, both 49 Up and 56 Up have received decent transfers.  The latest in the series, 56 Up seems to have been pieced together with thoroughly cleaned up footage from the older films and looks far and away the best of the bunch.  The thick grain and heavy contrast of the older films has been evened out a bit, making for a much cleaner looking film with more detail and clarity than ever before.  Audio wise, every film has been outfitted with a solid stereo track.  As a mostly conversational series, we are relegated to almost exclusively to Apted’s relaxed, boomy voice and that of his many subjects, all sounding quite natural.  The older films suffer from a crisp, harsher mix, while the newer films sound a bit more alive, natural and well rounded.  All seven discs come packaged in a hefty plastic DVD case and also feature a set of film stills within on disc galleries.

Audio Commentary with Michael Apted on 42 Up
Of all the films to receive a commentary track, unfortunately it is on the only disc with significant issues.  Thankfully, much of what Apted decides to speak on concerns the series as a whole instead of the individual film.  How the series got started, the major themes of the series, why people drop out, what is difficult for him making the series and all sorts of other wonderful tid-bits come out in this open discussion, but unfortunately the director does occasionally drop out on occasion to let things play out on screen before moving to another topic.

Roger Ebert interviews Michael Apted in 2006
As the critic who has probably voiced his praising opinion loudest on the series, Ebert took this opportunity to prod the director on his original intentions, his inclinations in shaping the picture, how people interpret it and to tell him directly that it is one of the most important works of cinema ever put to film. 29 min

Final Thoughts:

The Up Series has been decades in the making, and hopefully it will continue for a couple more.  If you’ve never taken the time to invest in the series, this box set is as good a way as any to do so (the films, minus the newest, are also currently streaming on Netflix).  Nearly devoid of outside critical input on the series and lacking the restoration the earlier films obviously could use, this First Run release seems pretty lackadaisical, but that doesn’t take away from the quality of the series by itself.  For the films’ importance alone this release gets a solid recommendation.