In 1963, a British outfit called Granada Television commissioned a film
about a group of children born in 1956. The children came from the upper and lower classes of British society. Generally they were asked about their plans and dreams, what they thought of boys or girls. The
idea was to revisit them every seven years and see how they were doing.

This was a visionary and ambitious plan. It may have appeared as stupid to some folks. But now, there's "49 Up". The children filmed in 1963 and every 7 years since have children and grandchildren. If you have
followed the series you may be curious about these people because they are people and they have lives. I haven't followed the series but knew of it over the years and I thought it was time to see this latest
chapter. Before I go on...this is not reality TV with all its contrivances, shallowness, superficiality, absurdity and voyeurism. "49 Up" is a studied and intense look at life.

Michael Apted ("Coal Miner's Daughter", "Continental Divide", "Blink", "Lipstick", "Amazing Grace") is the director. He has been with the series right from the beginning and back in 1963 all he wanted to be was a movie director. He's like an off-camera subject because he's grown too.

Apted initially filmed in black and white, then color and now digital. The editing using digital is good and it captured the passage of time real well. We see the gray hair and potbellies appear. No one from the original group has died and most of them have prospered. The divorce rate seemed rather high. One of them opted out at the age of 21 and another one (Suzy) may not appear in the next chapter. Only one person even mentions God (Neil) and all the others say very little if nothing about faith issues.

Apted does interviews and (what I have learned television producers call) b-roll. B-roll are sequences of the subjects pretending to go about their daily business be it at home or work. You get the distinct impression this is difficult for the interviewees and their families. A husband of one of the people being interviewed refused to participate. Apted also uses flashbacks to earlier episodes. Apted is not intrusive or tabloidish in his technique. He is intimate with his subjects but he has earned this right and it didn't seem uncomfortable.

This is great film making. It caused me to reflect on my own life and how I might appear. How much am I like I was at 7 years-old? How have I changed? How much have I remained the same?

You will not like this film if you aren't a fan of Michael Apted. You won't like it if you are hooked on reality TV. You will like it if you like seeing/doing human life character study or biography. I also think any of the "Up" series would be good for study groups and classroom instruction especially if you looking at aging.