The director Michel Apted has died at age 79, leaving us with one of the most significant documentary series in cinema history (and on my list of Greatest Movies of All Time). Apted’s 7 Up series explicitly documented the impacts of societal privilege and evolved into a holistic observation of humanity.
Each of the nine films followed the same fourteen British children, filming snapshots of their lives at ages 7, 14, 21, 28, 35, 42, 49, 56 and 63. Choosing kids from different backgrounds, the series started as a critique of the British class system, but has since moved into a broader exploration of what factors can lead to success and happiness at different stages of human life.
Apted was the hands-on researcher, not the director, on Seven Up! and then directed the next eight films in the series. Apted was a big time movie director (Coal Miner’s Daughter, Gorillas in the Mist). It is remarkable that he returned so faithfully to his subjects in the Up series.
Because Apted included clips from earlier films to set the stage for each character, you don’t need to watch all nine movies. The earlier films are difficult, perhaps impossible, to find streaming, but the entire series (Seven Up!, Seven Plus Seven, 21 Up, 28 Up, 35 Up, 42 Up, 49 Up, 56 Up) has been available on Netflix DVDs (for anyone that still subscribes). 42 Up, one the most powerful films in the series, is available to stream from Amazon, AppleTV, Vudu, YouTube and Google Play. 56 Up can be streamed from AppleTV, Hoopla and kanopy.
I saw 63 Up in 2019 at the Mill Valley Film Festival, with Apted in attendance. Apted was then 78, and hoped to direct 70 Up if he still had mental acuity. Apted acknowledged that his biggest mistake was not including enough girls at the outset (four girls out of fourteen kids); he tried to address this in the later films by expanding the roles of several female partners of the male subjects.
To give you a feel for Michael Apted’s body of work, here’s the trailer for 63 Up.