Customer Reviews

28 Up [VHS]

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My mother was cleaning up again and deciding what to keep, what to throw out, and what to pass along to her kids. Consequently, I ended up with a whole bunch of photographs of me growing up as a kid. I am now at the point where I barely recognize myself and as for what I was thinking at the time any one of those photographs was taken, I have barely a clue (I do remember wanting to be Secretary of State at one point). Well, the 7-year-old boys and girls that director Michael Apted first turned his camera on in 1964 do not really have that problem because every seven years until they turned 28, he returned to record their hopes, dreams and thoughts in a series of revealing interviews. The resulting mosaic is a moving and memorable trip through the times of their lives for these kids, from both wealthy and poor families in England. Originally this was an assignment for British television, for Apted to find a bunch of 7-year-olds from around the country, representing different social classes, races, backgrounds and have them talk about what they thought was important or interesting. However, 7 years later Apted found his subject and interviewed them again, repeating the process after two more seven year intervals before producing this 1984 documentary. Thus we get to check in on Neil, Tony and Symon, Jacquelin, Lynn and Suzanne, as kids, teenagers, young adults and then on the cusp of turning 30. More importantly, we can see how the person they become in any given segment is so obviously linked to the person they were in the previous one. Tony dreams of becoming a jockey, works in a stable as a teenager, and then actually becomes a jockey for a while, yet when we next see him he has become a cabbie. A woman can be an emotional train wreck at 21 and be a happily married mother of happy children at 28. Then again, a boy can be a loner and end up living on the street without any sort of future worth having. These children and the adults they have become seem to be playing out the entire human experience before our eyes.

Extended Final Note: Apted followed this film up with two more, named, obviously enough "35 Up" and "42 Up." My strong recommendation is that you let some time pass between this one and the next one. I really think you want to absorb this one and mull over what you think about what happened to these kids, before you turn to the next chapter. In fact, this documentary was originally shown in four parts ("Seven Up," "Seven Plus Seven," "21" and "28 Up") and if I had my thinking cap on at the time I would have watched them one at a time rather than doing it all in one sitting. In a way (and I do not mean to be facetious) watching Apted's documentaries is like watching "Survivor." You get really involved in what is happening with these people in a nice example of para-social interaction, you root for some of them to win and others to fail, and then you revise your opinions and predictions based on what happens in the next installment. Of course, "28 Up" is a lot more real and ultimately a lot more uplifting. I will be interesting to see what my kids think of this one.

Director Michael Apted was a youthful writer-researcher in 1962 when British television brought together a dozen 7-year-olds from disparate backgrounds, to examine them separately and take them on outings to the zoo and a playground together. The notion was to follow them through life to the extent of filming them every seven years to see where their lives would lead.

The first show -- filmed in 1962 and released a year or two later -- was called "7 Up." Apted befriended the kids, and became the director of every subsequent segment: "7 Plus 7" and "21 Up" followed in their time.

"28 Up" was the first segment to be placed on video and made available overseas. Several of the individuals refused to be filmed, but 10 or so remained, and the movie shows us clips from the three preceding episodes to show us how they have changed over the years.

There's Symon, a black lad from a single-parent household who by 28 has five children and seems wonderfully unscarred by racism; Jackie, Lynn, and Susan, working class friends; Nick, a farm boy who goes into nuclear fusion engineering and is teaching at the University of Wisconsin; the working class boy who split his childhood in Australia and continues to live there, and the other who tried to be a jockey and ended up driving a cab; Susy, from a much higher class background, who went a bit off the tracks for a time; Paul, a 7-year-old aspiring missionary who ends up being something of the sort teaching "maths" to underprivileged immigrant children; and a trio of upper-class males who go into law and TV production.

Perhaps most fascinating of all is Neil, an absolutely beguiling child from Liverpool (you can hear a bit of the Beatles in his voice), obviously sensitive and intelligent, who by "28 Up" is all but homeless, living on the road, in a trailer, and looking more like a pock-faced Bruce Dern.

Watching these lives unfold, you can't help thinking about the vagaries and chances of time, and how your life might have looked if someone had filmed it at seven-year intervals. "35 Up" is also out on video, and "42 Up," with the same cast of characters, hit American theaters in March of 2000.

This is a masterful psycho-social drama which you will best be able to relate to if you have some background knowledge of England and the English educational system. Follow the lives of a group of somewhat diverse children through their first 28 years. Be prepared for some post-viewing introspection.

I ordered this video after reading Roger Ebert's review and recently ordered the sequel. Micheal Apted follows the lives of a number of english children from differnt backgrounds by interviewing them every seven years. Questions regarding their education, politics, religion, marriage and carreer are asked. One sees some very interesting transformations take place; some people change their views, some change their lifestyles and others stay more or less the same. One of the most fascinating characters in the film is a man called Neil who grows up in the suburbs goes to college for one year, drops out then becomes homeless. Although his story seems sad, I believe he (Neil) is more content with his life than some of the others who wound up better economically. I believe Bruce (the math teacher from Oxford) and Peter (History teacher) look more unhappy with their lots in life than Neil. I also think that some of the others learned how to hide their misery very well but the viewer does get the impression that things are not all fine and dandy for everyone. I like the black guy Symon because like Neil, he seems very honest and open.

I have seen all three of the films (28-, 35-, 42 UP) in this series and recommend them all highly. A compelling film, 28 Up will linger in your mind long afterwards. It is a fascinating study of the British class system. It will also make you think about your own aspirations at the age of seven and whether you are living the kind of life you hoped for as a child.