Up (film series)

Seven Up!
Seven Up!
	DVD cover for Up Series
Directed by	Paul Almond
Produced by	Tim Hewat (uncredited)
Release dates	May 5, 1964 UK release
Running time	39 min.
Languages	English, Latin

For the soft drink, see 7 Up.

Seven Up! is the first film in a popular documentary film series that follows the lives of fourteen British people from the age of seven to adulthood. The fourteen people chosen are of different races, genders, and socio-economic backgrounds. Every seven years, the documentarians reconnect with the subjects and catch up on their lives.

Creation

The series was originally commissioned by Granada Television as a programme for the World in Action series screened on the ITV network, broadcast in 1964. It was directed at first by Paul Almond and subsequently taken over by Michael Apted, who had been a researcher on the first series and chose the original children with Gordon McDougall [1]. The premise of the film was taken from the Jesuit motto "Give me a child until he is seven and I will give you the man," which is based on a quote by Francis Xavier. The 1998 programme was commissioned by BBC One, although still produced for them by Granada.

Michael Apted was 22 at the time of Seven Up! and has plans to create a 56 Up.

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Participants

The fourteen subjects are Bruce Balden, Jackie Bassett, Simon Basterfield, Andrew Brackfield, John Brisby, Peter Davies, Susan Davis, Charles Furneaux, Nicholas Hitchon, Neil Hughes, Lynn Johnson, Paul Kligerman, Suzanne Lusk, and Tony Walker.

The participants were chosen in an attempt to represent different social classes in Britain in the 1960s. At the time the show was not intended to become a repeating series, and no contract was signed with the participants. All interviews since have been voluntary, the participants are paid, and only their first names are used in the programme. They have the option to withdraw their footage if they don't like the manner in which they are presented. The interviews are unrehearsed and occur in strict seven-year intervals. In the instances where the participants are interviewed as a group, they are positioned in the same arrangement each time. Especially in the later films, the interviews are conducted over two days. Apted tries to get as much material as the participants will allow, and admits the interviews are very long.

It should be noted that, in the original programme, the narrator mentions 21 children taking part and that that many can be counted at both the zoo and the party that they take part in. The only one named other than the fourteen acknowledged participants is a girl named Michelle who is from the same East End school as Tony and is interviewed as his girlfriend. The other six may have been interviews that were not used or brothers or sisters of the main group.

John, Charles and Andrew

The original group includes three quite stereotypical upper class boys. At the age of seven, they claim to have shares, and know which prep schools and even universities they will attend.

John, who was vocal on politics by 14, became a lawyer. John chose not to appear on the show after "Twenty-One," feeling that the questions he was being asked were mocking his upper class life. He did return for 35 Up however, married, with intentions to publicize his Oxfam relief efforts for Bulgaria. He would only appear in 35 Up under the condition that a member of the Up Series crew other than Apted interview him. He did not appear in 42 Up.

Andrew also went to prestigious schools, also got married, became wealthy and raised a family.

Charles did not make it into a prestigious university, and later described it as a "conveyer belt." He chose not to continue his participation in the series after Twenty-One and during an on-stage interview at London's National Film Theatre in December 2005, Michael Apted (the director) revealed that Charles had attempted to sue Apted when he refused to remove Charles's likeness from the archive sequences in 49 Up. Charles has worked in journalism in varying capacities over the years, including as a producer for the BBC, and the making of documentary films, including Touching the Void (2003).

Suzy

Upper class Suzy at age seven expected to become a homemaker and, after a rough adolescence that is only alluded to, she appeared tense and belligerent in Twenty-One. In a surprising twist, by 28, she found satisfaction and happiness in family life, which continued through the ensuing 21 years. Her husband Rupert Dewey is a successful solicitor in Bath, England and they have three children. In a review, the Spectator magazine once reported on her father's title.

Jackie, Lynn and Sue

The three working class girls, Jackie, Lynn and Sue, who at seven expected to become housewives, ended up with different careers and family lives than they had anticipated. Lynn got married at 19 and became a children's librarian. Jackie and Sue each went through different jobs, got divorced, and raised children as single parents. Jackie, Lynn and Sue prefer to be interviewed individually, but Apted insists on getting them together for a group interview for at least a short time.

Tony

Tony, the Cockney 'Cheeky Kid', first hoped to become a jockey, then a racing tout and, finally, secured a comfortable life as a taxi driver. His later dream of becoming an actor met with slight success; he had cameos on Winston Churchill: The Wilderness Years and EastEnders. He has been one of the most enthusiastic supporters of the project, and he and his wife, Deb, have been very honest about both the hardship and success in their lives.

Paul

Paul has lived in Australia since his father moved the family there before he turned 14. In Seven Up! and Seven Plus Seven, Paul seemed very unsure of himself, but by 21, he had more presence, long hair, and a girlfriend (whom he later married). He, his wife Susan and their children live happily in suburban Australia. Paul only agreed to take part in 42 Up if Michael Apted arranged for him and his wife to revisit England as part of the filming of their segment.

Nick

Nick, a Yorkshire lad, became a physicist and eventually settled at the University of Wisconsin in Madison, where he is currently a full professor and Chair, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering. At 21, he was labelled as the most successful of the participants. In 42 Up, Nick admitted that it was not likely that his work as a scientist will have the impact on the public that he had hoped.

Michael Apted freely admits in his commentary on the DVD for 42 Up that he erred in the filming of 28 Up in thinking that Nick's marriage to Jackie would not last, but it did. Consequently, he unfairly anticipated this in his questions to them, and in the film's presentation. This upset Jackie and the result was that he was unable to interview her and their son, Adam afterwards.

Symon

The only black participant is Symon, who was chosen from the same charity home as Paul. They revisited the abandoned buildings of their school in Twenty-One. Symon did not appear in 35 Up. At 35, he would not respond to Apted's phone calls, but returned for the next film seven years later. Symon appeared quite sad in both Seven Up! and Seven Plus Seven, but later seemed quite happy in two marriages and many children.

Neil

By the time of 28 Up one of the brightest comprehensive school boys, Neil, was experiencing ongoing struggles in his life and was homeless with some issues from mental illness. He did not believe in medication for his condition. Neil had remained on social security his entire life. By the time of 42 Up he found some stability in his life with the help of Bruce and was involved in politics, becoming a full-time District Councillor in the Eden district of western UK.

Peter

Peter was a classmate of Neil's in Liverpool as a youth, by 21 he was in college, and by 28 he was an underpaid and uninspired school teacher. Peter dropped out after 28 Up after stinging press criticism of political comments he made in his interview. Although it was not presented in the films, Peter dramatically changed his life after 28; he stopped teaching, got remarried, and became a lawyer. Michael Apted remains in contact with Peter, and hopes he will return to the project.

Bruce

Bruce was presented in Seven Up! and Seven Plus Seven as an idealist who was concerned with poverty and racial discrimination. He had ambitions of becoming a professional cricketer; sadly this was not fulfillable. Bruce studied mathematics at university and used his education to teach children in both England and Bangladesh. Bruce currently teaches at St Albans School, Hertfordshire and is married with two children.

The series' influence

The series has received extraordinary praise over the years, the epitome of which may be Roger Ebert's comment that it is "an inspired, almost noble use, of the film medium." Ebert rates it in his top ten films of all time.

Attempts have been made to repeat the series with subjects in the United States, the Soviet Union, and South Africa. In a list of the 100 Greatest British Television Programmes drawn up by the British Film Institute in 2000, voted for by industry professionals, 28 Up was placed 26th.

Some therapists show their clients the series to explain that a given person's reaction to the various interviews may have as much to say about the subject, in their interpretation of what they think that the participants are saying, as it does about the people taking part in the film.

In his commentary for the DVD of 42 Up, Apted praises the courage of the participants to come back and bare the raw facts of their lives every seven years.

Message

Apted's thesis is that class structure is so strong in the UK that a person's life path is set at birth. This idea held up in some cases, but not in others, as the series has progressed. There is a problem with the series as a tool of examination or analysis because the presence of the series has affected the lives of the participants. This is expressed in 21 Up, when the participants are brought together for a party, that the experiment really contributes to itself. Initially begun as a political documentary, the series has become a film of human nature, existentialism, and the drama of success, failure, promise, disappointment, and growing up. In the director's commentary of 42 Up, Apted comments that he didn't realise the series had changed tone from political to emotional until 21 Up, when the film was successful in American film festivals.

Influence on participants

Over the course of the project the programme has had a direct effect in varying degrees on the lives of the participants. The series became popular enough that the participants often speak of being recognized in public. As a testament to the popularity of the series, after 7 Plus 7, the film in which Symon discusses how he cannot afford a bike, hundreds of bikes were received at Granada Television from viewers. A lot of mail is also sent for the participants, which they can receive from Granada if they so choose.

The opinions of being involved in the series are often mentioned, and vary greatly between the participants. John refers to the programme as a poison that he is subjected to every seven years, while Paul's wife credits the series for keeping their marriage together.

Both Nick and Paul were flown back to England for the filming of 35 Up. This was financed by Granada.

By the time of 28 Up, Neil was experiencing ongoing struggles with his life and was homeless. Another one of the series subjects, Bruce, was affected by Neil's plight and offered him a home that, by the time of 42 Up, had given Neil the supportive base to get work and a home of his own.

Apted keeps in contact with all of the participants during the intervening seven year periods. They are paid for their participation.

List of films in the British series

Seven Up! (5 May, 1964), directed by Paul Almond
Seven Plus Seven (15 December, 1970) and after, directed by Michael Apted
Twenty-One (9 May, 1977)
28 Up (20-21 November, 1984)
35 Up (22 May, 1991)
42 Up (21-22 July, 1998)
49 Up (15-22 September, 2005)

A new version was started in 2000, 7-Up 2000 (2000, Julian Farino).

External links