Movies: 49 Up

It was sad.

I’d been wanting, desiring, yearning to see it; waiting for days while Netflix lost one copy in the mail and had to send us another; convincing Ian (the movie dictator in our household) that it had to be seen immediately.

Then we saw it.

I love Michael Apted’s Up Series. For those who don’t know: the first installment was released in 1964. In it, the director interviewed 14 British kids, who were all seven years old at the time. Since then, every seven years he returned to these same kids to ask them questions, track their progress. These are lovely films. I particularly loved 35Up and 42 Up. I even showed it to my undergraduates one year (they complained that the English accents were hard to understand).

Now, I’ve seen 49 Up, and as much as I hate to say it, I was bored.

What I loved in the previous films—especially 35 and 45 Up—was the hopefulness and uncertainty. The characters—not kids anymore—were struggling, making choices. Their class was always a factor. Some kids came from working class families of East London. Others were little privileged snobs. A couple of boys were growing up at a children’s home. You could actually see the way their background shaped their lives.

But I guess age is a great equalizer. Now, 49 years old, “the kids” have settled into very similar and quite comfortable lives. Almost all of them are married (or remarried), living in nice enough houses, with modern kitchen sets and cozy yards. Their children are mostly grown and several have children of their own. While their economic circumstances vary, no one is starving. To which, of course, I say, Good for them. But not so good for the movie. I was seeing the exact same story over and over again. Complacency replaced uncertainty. They’ve struggled enough, and now they are raising their grandkids, doing their work, enjoying their summer homes. There’s little drama and very few variables left in their stories.

It’s not their fault, though. They’ve had their share of problems, they’ve deserved a bit of calm. But despite the quiet, the director still could have made an interesting movie. Over the years, he asked the same questions, followed the same template: romance & family, career, parents. And this time around, his questions are still the same. He doesn’t ask how “the kids” feel about England, whether they think it’s changed for the better. His doesn’t mention economy, global warming, education. Only one of his subject, Tony the taxi driver, gets to talk about East End where he grew up and about his current feelings toward immigrants who live there. To me this was one of the most illuminating moments in the film. But the director misses these opportunities. He doesn’t ask Nick, who spent the last few decades in Madison, Wisconsin, about the war in Iraq. (Instead he asks him whether he misses England. Yes, says Nick, he does.) Nor does he ask Neil -- formerly homeless, now a politician -- about his politics. When another character, Jackie, accuses him of never asking her good questions, she actually might be right. It’s a shame. There’s so much that could be gleaned from these interviews.

My recommendation? If you’ve never seen any of these films, start with the earlier ones—28, 35, 42 Up. Then, if you want to know what happens in another seven years, scan through the 49 Up. And try not to be disappointed.