With the impending release of "63 Up," we go back to the beginning and review the previous entries in Michael Apted's foundational sociological study of a cohort of Brits born around 1956 and revisited every seven years. Part I is here. We skip "35" and jump to the most important life cycle, ages 35-42:
42 UP (1998) (A) - This might be the apex of the series, as we meet up with the gang after they have just passed through a person's most crucial seven-year phase. Apted shows great command in juggling his narrative, and he and his subject have achieved a level of both comfort and antagonism that truly brings out the various personalities. The director weaves everyone together at the end with a rare quasi-political inquiry to each one about their views on the challenges of their class boundaries. He also asks them to assess the role of this film series in their lives.
Tony again is one of the stars, as he escapes the East End for life in the suburbs, with a vacation place in Spain, giving him a bit of distance with which to further dis the people of color who now populate his home neighborhood. (He also engages in an awkward discussion, in front of his wife, of the infidelities that threatened to ruin his marriage.) Jackie shocks with a sudden brood of boys; Lynn's health declines; and their working-class pal Sue is single again and wistful about her outlook. Symon and Paul lean on strong spouses (Symon remarried since "28 Up's" explosion of children), and a third person finally finds a life mate. Two men are reunited unexpectedly.
One of the most powerful vignettes of the entire series involves Nick, still teaching in America, returning to his family farm to reconcile with his parents and brothers; his appreciation for both the beauty and bleakness of the bucolic setting has a strong emotional pull. Apted builds to Neil again as his finale, and there is relief that not only is Neil still alive and not completely mad, but that he has finally found a purpose. It is the perfect crystallization of Apted's project, and this would have been a fitting climax to the series if it had to end prematurely.
49 UP (2005) (B+) - This is perhaps the most formulaic of the films, as our cohort settles into middle age (most of them, in fact, look older than 49) and into a contented resignation as to their lot in life. For the most part, those lives seem to be quiet, fulfilling ones. This is encapsulated by Suzy, who seems to finally have achieved an inner peace and reconciliation with her former self, suggesting that her arc is now complete and she's ready to coast from here on out.
Stuffy John returns, mainly to pitch his charity work in Bulgaria. Neil is spotted driving a car. Tony continues to rail at the evolution of the ethnicity of the East End, seemingly oblivious to the irony of the British invasion he has helped lead into a Spanish resort town, with plans to open an English pub there. Jackie spars with Apted over his depiction of her, and Suzy and Andrew wistfully explain the toll experienced by opening up their lives (and their pasts) every seven years. The always-interesting Nick offers a plot twist
As summed up by Bruce -- the former missionary now teaching at a posh school -- 49 is a time to realize that childhood fantasies of extraordinary careers won't materialize, but rather, "ordinary life and family life takes over" and "I think we just sort of live without our dreams."
56 UP (2012) (B) - See our review from 2013 here.
NOTE: "63 Up" arrives at the Guild Cinema on Jan. 14.
BONUS TRACKS
A DVD extra for "49 Up" is a thoughtful interview of Apted by Roger Ebert:
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