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Volume 34
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49 Up gives fascinating insights into life's progressions

49 Up gives fascinating insights into life's progressions
by E. Joyce Glasgow SGN A&E Writer 49 Up A Film by Michael Apted United Kingdom, 2005, 135 minutes, color and black & white Landmark's Varsity Theatre 4329 University Way N.E., Seattle, (206)781-5755 Exclusive engagement opens October 13th, 2006 The Film, 49 Up, gives us fascinating glimpses into the lives of a diverse group of English men and women, of different socio-economic and geographical backgrounds, whose dreams, desires, opinions and life experiences have been traced starting from aged seven and revisited every seven years on film. The first installment was 7 Up in 1964 and was inspired by the Jesuit maxim "Give me the child until he is seven and I will give you the man". This latest installment, 49 Up, reveals where the participants have come to at middle age. I was impressed by the maturity, thoughtfulness, pragmatism, intelligence and self- awareness of all the subjects, even at age seven. It is a totally engaging and absorbing experience to witness the changing lives of these individuals and I found that the film's premise inspired an opportunity for my own self-examination and reflection on my dreams and life experiences at middle age. I think this film can inspire people of any age to reflect on how they live their lives, follow their dreams and the outcomes of paths chosen, mirrored by the universally shared human condition of the subjects of 49 Up. English director, Michael Apted, known for a number of well received films including Gorillas in the Mist, Coal Miner's Daughter and Gorky Park sums it up best when he says of his film 49 Up: "The Up films had a modest beginning&(the first) had a sly ingenuous surface, the charming and amusing thoughts of a group of 7 year olds ruminating on sex, money, school, race, love, mum and dad, the future and each other. The velvet glove of the early films hid a fierce indictment of the British class system but as the series got older it changed. It became less about a system and more about the drama of everyday life -- marriage, children, holding down jobs, success, failure, love and loss; things we all relate to. Those in it have become part of the culture, a piece of all of our lives". I highly recommend this film. For more information visit: www. firstrunfe