Film Forum

12:30   3:20   6:20   9:15

“One of the most remarkable experiments in the history of cinema… Rarely has ordinary existence seemed so multifaceted and enigmatic.” – A.O. Scott, The New York Times (writing on 49 UP). Michael Apted’s landmark longitudinal documentary series, beginning in 1963, has followed the lives of a dozen or so British 7-year-olds, checking in with them every seven years. There’s scrappy Tony, a jockey-turned-cabbie; the terribly posh public school boys who become fox-hunting, aristocratic barristers; three working-class little girls for whom marriage, divorce, and children define much of their lives (one of whom has the temerity to confront Apted for his sexism). The British class system plays a major role, but so too do luck and temperament, romance, religion, mental illness, and race. Apted subtly collages historical footage, allowing his subjects to fast-forward into the person they become, much as flowers bud, bloom and fade — allowing us to consider our own life cycle with startling and poignant clarity.

UK    2018    144 MINS.    BRITBOX

Reviews

“Critic’s Pick... There’s great pleasure in revisiting this series, seeing who turned out just fine and sometimes better than you might have expected or hoped...”
– Manohla Dargis, The New York Times

“Grade: A. The film world’s most remarkable franchise continues with its most touching installment. A singular portrait of life itself: of its freedoms and limitations; of its differences and similarities; of its predictability and chaos. And if you’ve never seen one of these films before, there’s no time like the present. Indeed, this is the perfect place to get started. For all its ambition, the UP series is a phenomenally simple piece of work in both concept and execution… The seismic political turmoil casts intriguing new shadows on these people… People change, some more than others, but 63 UP is so beautiful and bittersweet for how it finds them becoming who they are.”
– David Ehrlich, IndieWire

“If this is the final chapter, as Apted suggests it could be, it’s a worthy cap to one of the boldest experiments in world cinema.”
– Chris Willman, Variety

“Extraordinary. Like a transmission from a more delicate age… delightfully analogue. It’s a wonderful thing, this episodic reality, and it gets richer with time.”
– Alastair McKay, London Evening Standard