63 Up

The graying and mortality of the Up family takes center stage in the ninth installment of this incredible landmark series. One member has passed away and another is gravely ill as children and grandchildren dot the reunions and monopolize conversation and concern. Retired or nearing it they all show little to no regret in most cases with all for the most part satisfied with the way things have turned out this far along. There have been disappointments and setbacks but hope springs eternal in all as they look to the future well aware they are past their peak but still have something to offer and look forward to.

I adopted these distant relatives decades back and always look forward to the reunions where I get to catch up with them. It has been interesting watching them grow and mature over time as I have aged with them. Holding up a mirror to my face, mulling over the same questions director Michael Apted poses to them and their responses it remains a cinematic experience like no other for me. Hopefully I'll be around with the rest of them for the next chapter.

As I watched 63 Up on Britbox, I recalled hearing about it many years ago. I am pleased that I watched it and even more so because I did some reasearch on the series. As a matter of fact, for several days afterwards, I couldn't get away from reading more about it and the people who participated in it...how they started out as part of this lifelong series and how their lives have changed. I give them full credit for sharing their lives and wonder if the creators of the series ever realized how historic and ground breaking the project would be.

The show is absolutely mesmerizing. I feel a certain chill, knowing these people are younger that I am and I am reading about how their lives are slowly drawing to a close. Also there is a real possibility that this great series may have reached the end, particularly now that the director Michael Apted has recently died. I certainly hope that it does continue but it is up to the participants to decide. If it doesn't, it is still a tremendous achievement. I was particularly struck by one of them who, after a very successful life, revealed that he is now facing a potentially terminal illness. Another of the participants talked about his regret at not having a father figure to look up to and now is a very happy and fulfilled human being with something like eight children. Very exceptional for a baby boomer who lived in the same time frame as the others in the series.

It is very moving in the sense that it provides documented evidence of the changes a group of human beings go through as they age, not only physically but in their personal experience. It is understandable that there would be criticisms of the director and some of the questions he asked. We all have personal limitations and certain biases and my sense is that Michael Apted deserves full credit for staying with the project for so long. The film deserves a place in the history of film making and I sincerely hope the time will come when it is so recognized.

"Give me a child until he is 7, and I will give you the man."

Director Michael Apted has been revisiting the same group of 14 British-born adults every seven years for 56 years. It's a documentary achievement not ever before attempted. It succeeds magically.

His above thesis centers around the notion that at 7 years you can see the same person at 63. Well, maybe not fully, but their individual personalities come through as Apted flashes back to scenes from previous 7-year iterations, including the first in 1963 to let us see the growth of his engaging subjects.

Almost all participants have achieved some happiness, from laborer and mother to Oxford grads and barrister. Common to most of their happiness is children, as good an endorsement of having children as you will ever see. Yet, disappointments and tragedy follow them as well as impermanent happiness, as happens to all who walk this earth.

Apted smartly updates his take by asking questions about current life, such as Brexit or lack of opportunity to buy a home. It is obvious that their children are often staying home into maturity from their inability to buy. Even Tony, a real estate developer, is forced by 2008 to downsize.

Nick learns 10 days before Apted's arrival that he has lung cancer, and librarian Lynn has died from a playground accident. All in all, life has just moved on relentlessly to its inevitable conclusion.

Somehow Apted doesn't set us off into grim thoughts about the human condition; rather he celebrates the small moments of life that give joy and connect us all in common experiences. As his series seems to be coming to a close, we can enjoy watching cohesive parts of the lives we share with each other.

Time remains undefeated. Death is stalking the series now. It's the uncredited cast member haunting everyone from this point on. Michael Apted remains the director but I don't know for how long. He stays off camera to my disappointment. Some members are battling illnesses. Work is winding down or even gone. Most are happy to talk about their kids and grandkids. A few speak about Brexit. Neil is not fully open about his trouble marriage and I can understand why. Tony's cab business has been heavily damaged by Uber and he has retreated from his Spanish dreams. I wonder if Lynn's family gets their own section in the next one. Does this continue beyond death? More and more, I wonder about mortality in general and the mortality of this series.

In 1964, the short film "Seven Up!" appeared on British television. Its focus was on fourteen seven-year old children of different class backgrounds expressing their aspirations in life. Every seven years, a sequel was made re-interviewing the subjects as they expressed their current (at the time) life situations, concerns, and again, their outlooks for the future. "63 Up" focuses on most of the original fourteen post-middle age.

This film is part of a superb periodic series which uses great editing from its prequels to show the passage of time. The current film has special relevance as it is at the time of life when mortality is rearing its head.

Most of the subjects have lead rather conventional lives but there are a few exceptions particularly a man (Neil) who had great difficulties in his twenties and has had fascinating, unpredictable changes since then.

"63 Up" not only covers changes in the lives of the subjects but occasionally the changes in the world itself or at least in the UK. This includes discussions of the subjects' adult children who will likely face financial difficulties compared to their own prosperity as baby-boomers. In some ways, there could have been more talk on such worldly changes although Tony, a taxi driver, is blunt in describing how the rise of Uber has affected his livelihood.

The rare time an interviewee is asked about Brexit, it was always a man. There are only a handful of women (four out of the fourteen) interviewed and the omission of asking them questions on the state of the world reflects an attitude in earlier clips when as girls or young women, they were asked only about ideals of boyfriends, husbands, and children. Thankfully, an older clip is included in which one of the gals confronts the interviewer/director (Michael Apted) on this - and quite strongly, too.

While many of the stories have much in common and occasionally seem ordinary, it is still easy to care for these people after all these years. - dbamateurcritic