September 25, 2006
the UP series
You’ve probably heard of this series at some point. A documentary team filmed a disparate group of children at the age of seven and went back every seven years. The library has a box set of the first six, following their lives at the age of 7, 14, 21, 28, 35 and 42. I’ve watched them over the past week.
It’s really remarkable. Kind of like having relatives who you never see or hear from for seven years at a stretch and suddenly appear. The shapes of people’s live rendered before your eyes. The unexpected turns and vicissitudes. The ups and downs. The extent to which people’s lives work out the way they think they will or not.
Dunno what to say, really. Quietly profound filmmaking. All of human life, in some quite literal sense, is contained within. Absolutely worth the watch; I struggle to imagine anyone not getting a lot out of it.
Filed by billy at 2:19 pm under culture
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Yeah, I’ve only seen bits and pieces that were screening in Oz while I was living there, but it encouraged me to do a bit of online reading about it and it does seem like an amazing project.
Yeah, it’s an amazing concept – they just showed 49 up about a month back (late night saturday, alas), and it was weirdly moving. The first and the greatest reality tv show…
Yeah, I will have to track down 49 up… it’s more addictive than a soap opera, that’s for sure!
I wonder: when the filmmakers die (they’re obviously older than the subjects), will someone else continue the series?