56 Up (2012) User Reviews

Fascinating, poignant, frightening

[scrabbler · 7/10 · 2 February 2013]

56 Up - hard to believe. I've watched 3 or 4 of these over my 53 years, and each one becomes harder for me to watch as I get older. I was suddenly a little scared when the titles for this one started; I almost walked out of the theater. What has become of this group of kids that director Apted has been following since he was 22 years old? What new tragedies had befallen them? Whatever became of the homeless guy? Would any of them finally blow up at Apted on-camera?

Probably the most unnerving thing for me was that the film would just be unbearably poignant. It seems almost god-like to be able to see how a group of 14 people's lives have progressed over a 49-year period. (Yet, as one of the men complains, viewers can't possibly know these people, even though many in Britain presume to (since this was shown on TV there, many British people have watched all 8 films).

Fortunately, however, the film isn't overly sentimental or maudlin. Still, the film is very touching and can't help but make you think about your own life and trials, what advantages you may or may not have had compared to these people, and how you would have fared given their circumstances.

One of the sadder aspects of these films is to see how life seems to have "beaten down" so many of these people. Some of the kids with bright, shiny eyes who seemed to have so much energy and hope now seem to be dejected and defeated adults. Yet this isn't true for all of them - some of the reserved, quiet kids turned out to be reserved, quiet adults. And it's not all sad - there are some good laughs and some inspiring successes. And two subjects who had dropped out returned for this segment - one to promote his band!

There are plenty of clips from earlier segments, so you don't need to rent any of the earlier ones, but I'd recommend it. You get a more profound sense of the flow of their lives by seeing at least one other one. But whatever you do, see this one.

Feels like a best of episode

[SnoopyStyle · 8/10 · 15 November 2013]

The gang is back under the directions of Michael Apted. They are now closing in on old age. Everybody is looking back rather than looking forward. Sure they look forward for their kids, but not anymore for themselves. Peter has finally return to the series, but it's only a taste. He's only giving the highlights but mostly he wants to promote his band. He still isn't completely open especially about his first marriage. That is still better than Charles who is still absent.

The question is starting to creep in on what will happen to this series if one of them pass or maybe if Michael Apted pass. This raises the question of what the future episode will look like. It will probably feel like talking to my parents and the older generations about their aches and pains. Everybody will be comparing their medical health. The part I want to see now is Michael Apted on camera. He's getting up there in age and it would be nice to see the group talk to him as an equal before it's too late.

Life as seen from the long view

[Buddy-51 · 9/10 · 20 July 2013]

The "Up" documentary series comprises what is surely the most impressive longitudinal study ever committed to film. It is an obvious labor of love for director Michael Apted, who has remained faithful to the project - and to its participants - for close to fifty years now.

It all began in 1964, when producers at Britain's Granada Television gathered together a group of seven-year-olds from all walks of life and interviewed them for a TV documentary entitled "7Up," focused on the hopes and aspirations of these youngsters as they embarked on a long but uncertain journey into the future. Every seven years since, like clockwork, Apted has gone back to these individuals to take a peek into their lives, examining the paths they've taken and juxtaposing those youthful aspirations expressed in the original film with the realities of their lives as they've played themselves out. (The stunning contrast between the grainy black-and-white imagery of the first film and the hi- def clarity of the current interviews underlines the extraordinary length of time the series has already covered).

In "56Up," the eighth installment in the series, its subjects are leaving the confidence and security and general good health of middle age and just beginning to confront the realities of impending old age and contemplating an array of end-of-life issues (if not for themselves yet, at least for their parents). And it is for this reason that "56Up" is one of the most poignant and insightful entries in the series (and one imagines it will only get more poignant and insightful with each successive edition). All the major issues of marriage/divorce, career and parenthood seem to have long ago been settled for most of them, as they now concentrate on their roles as grandparents and life guides for their own adult children as they embark on their own lives and families. There's less naïve hope expressed in this film and more of an acceptance of how life has turned out for the participants, though there is a marked lack of cynicism and pessimism in the way they speak about their lives. Of course, they're still young enough at this point to be physically active and fully engaged in their careers and their communities, but there's no denying that the prospect of that fast- approaching downward slope of life is weighing, at least to some degree, on these people's minds. Yet, even those who haven't yet achieved their "ideal" lives still haven't given up hope that they will one day find what it is they're looking for. For obvious reasons, it is this installment that most comprehensively captures the range of a lifetime, at least until "63Up," "70Up," etc., arrive on the scene in the lead-up to the foreordained conclusion of the series.

It's clear from watching this jumble of clips from eight distinct periods of time that each stage of life contains a set of joys and concerns unique unto itself, a universal truth that this series, by its very nature, seems singularly equipped to illustrate. It's a bit like thumbing through - an admittedly disorganized - family photo album, but with insightful commentary from the individuals involved inserted along the way.

One, perhaps unforeseen, thread that runs through this film involves the self-reflection on the part of some of the participants about their appearance in the series - the sometimes unwelcome notoriety it has brought to them and their lives, with at least one of them pulling out of the project for a time only to reconnect with it at this stage, after having come to terms with himself and grown confident in his own skin. A few even question the very value of the series itself, feeling that these brief glimpses into their lives every seven years fail to create anything close to a true portrait of their lives and of themselves as people - a concern that Apted deserves much credit for including in his final product. After all, these people, at seven years of age, did not exactly ask to become a part of this much-viewed series, and why SHOULD they want to be defined and represented by it? On the other hand, as one of the participants points out, the series really isn't about these particular individuals as much as it is about how, collectively, they serve as a sort of mirror in which the rest of us can see our own lives reflected.

Yet, something indefinable and intangible keeps many of them coming back every seven years to open up and share at least a small part of their lives with us. And for that the world shall be eternally grateful. Now onto the next installment.

A unique and remarkable series of films continues

[runamokprods · 10/10 · 30 January 2013]

Personally, I would strongly suggest watching the films in order. While "56 Up" does provide some recaps, the cumulative effect of the series is built by watching each age in depth.

The 'Up Series' represents one of the most fascinating and unusual uses of film in cinema history - a documentary life-long chronicle of the lives of 14 people starting at 7 years old, revisiting them every seven years through age 56 (so far). While I could quibble, wishing for a bit more depth here and there (especially with the women, where there's a bit too much emphasis on love and marriage at the expense of all else), and by nature the later episodes sometimes have to speed through more than would be ideal,since they have to both catch the audience back up as well as moving the stories forward, no matter. It's really an astounding, moving, frightening and uplifting document. There's no way to watch this remarkable series of films without reflecting deeply on one's own life, and how you have changed (and stayed the same) over your own lifetime.

While Michael Aped deserves every bit of credit he's received for this amazing piece of cultural anthropology,it's important to note the first film, 7 Up, was actually directed by Paul Almond, and Apted was a that point a researcher for the project.

This new episode is as excellent as it's predecessors, revealing more surprising twists in turns as our group heads towards the end of mid-life, and stare into the realities of old age. Some old friends re-appear, some have continued in directions they had been going in, and some have changed course yet again.

One thing that's interesting, and more present in this episode than earlier ones are some of the subjects questioning the objectivity and 'reality' of the series. There are interesting cases made that what we, the audience, sees isn't the truth of who these people are, but only a created character. It also (by proxy) makes one reflect on how much being in these films has affected the lives of the participants. Just as in physics, it seems to be true here as well, that the very act of being observed changes what is being observed.

All fascinating and thought-provoking stuff.

The Up Series (1963 - 2012 Granada/ ITV UK) Continues With The 56 Up (2012) Show And Old Age Looms Ahead For 1963 Seven Year Olds Now 56!

[DavidAllenUSA · 10/10 · 16 May 2012]

The Up Series (1963 - 2012 Granada UK) continues "56 Up" (2012 Granada UK) is the latest episode in the series and was aired in the UK on May 14, 2012.

Home video DVD's are not yet available for "56 Up" (2012 Granada 2012) from Amazon.Com. It seems there is a delay from the time the newest episode is first aired/ released in the UK and when the USA sees and may purchase it.)

For me, the two most remarkable and worthy persons profiled are Neil Hughes and Bruce Balden, neither married or materially "successful" by the 1991 "35 Up" episode, both badgered about that on camera by the off camera interviewer, both stoic and dignified in the face of the negative evaluation the interviewer provides.

Neither man, Hughes or Balden, led conventional, predictable, profitable, "safe" lives. Both opted for exploration, adventure, and service to and comradeship with socially unprestigious groups and persons.

Both took enormous chances, and must be accounted brave, noble men for that alone. They didn't "play it safe." Both exude an intelligence and a willingness to discuss difficult questions and issues in detail on camera, and neither attack the show they appear on, the thoughtless, implicitly insulting interviewer, or the show's and interviewer's obvious prejudices and agenda for the show itself as a piece of social and political propaganda.

Balden and Hughes use the riveting show as a platform to describe their own lives, ideals, and activities in pursuit of those ideals, activities not supported by outside big money or generous support from family, government, or other sources.

We learn more about the world at the times the episodes are presented (every 7 years starting in 1963.....the most recent one in 2004) from observing and listening to the words and ideas of Bruce Balden and Neil Hughes by far than is true of the other children and adults presented, none of whom departed from the settings where they first appeared at age 7 in 1963.

Neil Hughes and his "marching to the beat of the different drummer" (quote from Americn Utopian writer Henry David Thoreau) seems to me the most impressive of all.

He's become the intrepid explorer he announced he'd be at age 7 when he expressed interest in being an Astronaut or a bus driver....two flavors of explorers.

I'm reminded of the words of poet T. S. Eliot (1888 USA - 1965 UK), the USA born poet who settled in England and got the Nobel Prize in 1948.

He wrote a poem titled East Coker, and words from it include the following:

--------------

"To arrive where you are, to get from where you are not, You must go by a way wherein there is no ecstasy.

In order to arrive at what you do not know You must go by a way which is the way of ignorance.

In order to possess what you do not possess You must go by the way of dispossession.

In order to arrive at what you are not You must go through the way in which you are not.

And what you do not know is the only thing you know

And what you own is what you do not own

And where you are is where you are not.

----------------------

"Home is where one starts from. As we grow older The world becomes stranger, the pattern more complicated ------------

"Old men ought to be explorers........"

--------------------------

Everybody should be an explorer, not just old men.

Neil Hughes purposed to be an explorer at age 7, started early, still does it. He could be the star of a long run reality TV Show titled "King Of The Road" using the famous Roger Miller hit song of that title from the 1960's, and his views about dealing with and surviving in spite of unsupportive, unintelligent government and present social organization and conventions in the UK, the USA, Australia, and elsewhere could be solicited and published, his lifestyle and behavior widely (and proudly) imitated.

This may all seem far-fetched (see the Academy Award Winner movie titled Network [1976] to see how big media could set this up....no joke!), but the fact is Neil Hughes has probably learned more about the realities of survival and the likely challenges and problems upcoming which must be survived successfully than most people.

People won't get the truth about big issues they face from the government, big religion, or the conventional commercial mass media, nor will big establishment educational systems either provide answers nor seek them.

Neil Hughes knows what others need to know, and is clearly independent enough to share what he knows, able to survive being despised for his independent and necessarily implicitly critical views.

It's an interesting show, and less spectacular careers and worlds of the children/ adults who traveled different, more predictable and conventional paths than Bruce Balden and Neil Hughes are worth noting and following.

The Up Series (1963 - 2012) is a happy accident, the truth provided by the commercial mass media in ways almost never experienced.

BTW, see the excellent interview with director/ producer Michael Apted (1941 UK - ) done by USA Movie Critic of fame Roger Ebert in the "Special Features" section of "49 Up [2005)." Ebert praises the show to the skies.

-----------------

Written by Tex Allen, SAG-AFTRA movie actor, Columbia PA USA

Email Tex Allen at [e-mail]

See Tes Allen Movie Credits, Biography, and 2012 photos at WWW.IMDb.Me/TexAllen. See other Tex Allen written movie reviews....almost 100 titles.... at: "http://imdb.com/user/ur15279309/comments" (paste this address into your URL Browser)

The Eight Ages of Man

[boblipton · 10/10 · 5 January 2013]

Michael Apted has had a long and successful career as a director. His credits have included such upper-middle-brow works as GORILLAS IN THE MIST and ENIGMA, and such popular works as a Bond movie and COAL MINER'S DAUGHTER. His most fascinating work has been on 1963's 7 UP, for which he was a researcher, and its sequels. Every seven years since the original show, Apted has interviewed and directed the same collection of ordinary Britons from all backgrounds.

Partly a survey of contemporary British life, partly a work of sociology, but mostly an album of snapshots, they offer the viewer a fascinating look at how lives diverge and snake around each other: an upper class boy whose life has followed the expectations he had at seven. A farm boy who became a nuclear physicist; girls who grew up to be mothers and grandmothers and are now dealing with death. I have been following this since they were twenty-one, and have looked at all of them on DVD. Everyone has a story, unique and commonplace at the same time, some happy, some sad, some mixed.

The eighth in the series has finally made its appearance in the US on the movie screen, and I don't know how to describe it to you. All I know is that it is utterly fascinating, both as a portrait of British society and of individuals trying to cope with sporadic celebrity. I don't know how much longer Mr. Apted will be able to continue to do these shows -- he is 72 himself -- but I will continue to look at them as long as he and his collection of subjects continue to make them and I urge you to take a look.

8th film in brilliant survey of some British children, now adults

[maurice_yacowar · 8/10 · 9 July 2013]

Michael Apted confirms the series' status as a remarkably insightful, moving, often poetic, chronicle of the times. More than a series, it's a phenomenon. The stated intention is to prove the Jesuit adage, "Give me the child until he is seven and I will give you the man." But as the upper class John here claims, the show set out to prove that England is "still in the grasp of a Dickensian class system," which he claims was not true in '64 and is even less true now. His friend Andrew's view is borne out by most of the stories here. A harsh stratification remains in force, but it is primarily economic, not social. In a brilliant spinning irony, the very aristocratic John claims Apted misrepresented him by not mentioning his father died when he was nine, his mother labored hard and he got to Oxford only on a scholarship. But John himself convincingly presented himself as a blue blood. Moreover, in his generous patronage of his forefather's Bulgaria he proves himself the ideal aristocrat! Apted frequently reminds us how documentary moves into poetry and real people into metaphors. For more see www.yacowar.blogspot.com.

"What kind of fellow for me? A pulse would be a good place to start."

[TxMike · 8 July 2013]

When you are a 56-yr-old single woman, yes a man with a pulse is a good start! And it helps to keep your sense of humor.

I have been a fan of Apted's "UP" series ever since I discovered it and saw the first several over a short time period a few years ago. Since then I have found myself anticipating the next 7 years to see how the participants are doing and how their lives are changing. And to reflect on my own life, how it has been changing.

This all started about 50 years ago when Apted was a young man and was given the suggestion to do something with 7-yr-old British kids, but in a totally different concept. Somewhere along the line, he came upon the idea of filming them every 7 years and that has turned out to be a great theme. Some have dropped out, at least one drop-out has re-joined, and in his honesty says it was to gain additional publicity for his band which seems to be gaining in popularity. Plus participants are paid, although Apted has not yet stated how much. Still I feel certain it is a nice sum, and who wouldn't welcome that every few years.

One of the big events since "49 UP" was the global recession, and several of the participants discuss its effect on them. Plus in general there are several comments criticizing the direction politicians are taking the country.

It is refreshing, though, to see so many of them aging gracefully, being happy in their advancing ages, avoiding dwelling on what might have been if they had made different choices. Pretty much what you would expect from any slice of society.

There was a brief conversation with Tony, the one who as a young boy wanted to be a jockey but ended up being a London cab driver, that caught my attention. Tony was complaining about all the foreigners that have moved into his East London over the years, "They never asked any of us our opinions." When Apted suggested Tony's views might be considered "racist" Tony objected loudly. But consider, Tony and his family have a vacation home in Spain, they are doing to Spain what the other foreigners are doing to his East London. In reality Tony does have at least mild racist views, as many people do, but he doesn't even recognize that.

Always an interesting series, the most recent installment, filmed in early 2012, is a winner.

Please add English subtitles

[danielconway · 7/10 · 27 January 2020]

Yes I'm a Yank. I know we speak the same language but with their accent I can only decipher half of the dialogue. The real "spoiler" is few on the other side of the pond understand them.

The "Up" series or perhaps the noblest form of 'Reality Show'...

[ElMaruecan82 · 10/10 · 22 December 2017]

And here we are, for the last chapter of Michael Apted's "Up" series. Fourteen lives I've been following from their childhood to the age of maturity. And seeing them getting older and wiser, contemplating their achievements, has always made me consider my own life... hasn't anyone?

This is not a series about lives, but Life. And these persons were no laboratory rats though the initial purpose of the "Seven Up" short was to make a point on the British class system. Granada Productions' bias was even more obvious since they didn't select kids from middle classes (not many girls too). But the more the subjects grew on life and on us, the less these considerations mattered.

And for once, I won't be too analytical, I think maybe the key to this show's appeal is the likability of all the subjects. They are different, but they are all good and decent. And this struck the man I am belonging to their children's generation. Indeed, had "Up" been about Millennials, there might have been more "Neils" and less "Pauls" or "Andrews". Here, they had their share of ups and downs, separations, health issues, deaths but they always managed to look at the bright side of life. And maybe the program did play a part to that.

Indeed, in my "49 Up" review, I didn't take Suzie's reluctance to participate in '56' for granted, and I was right. And it was a pleasant surprise to see Nick sitting next to her. Together, they have grown a friendship due to their rural upbringing and agreed on many points about the limitating format of the program, that it only offered short glimpses on their lives but the merit was in the lessons and perspectives offered by the sums of all these experiences.

Suzie and Nick were critical but they were there all right, reckoning the cathartic value of the documentary as each 'time' snapshot of their lives allowed them to stop once in a while and examine their previous accomplishments like their own viewers, before becoming actors again. And for similar reasons, the other participants admitted a sense of commitment to the documentary... not to mention, friendship with Apted. I could swear I hear them calling him "Michael" more than all the previous episodes put together. Even Jackie who had settled a few records in '49'. This "56" edition was as fascinating as the "49" because it really reflected a new attitude toward life, let alone the camera.

Was it a coincidence that separate participants revealed new elements about their lives at that particular episode? John regretted that he was constantly shown as a privileged child while his father died when he was 9, Andrew finally revealed that the "Financial Times" line was something his father told him to say. Like for Jackie in the previous episode, we realize that the documentary format can't reflect the deep and complex aspects of reality, but doesn't social life work on the same flawed way? At least, they're able to be vocal about a few misconceptions.

Another happy twist was Peter's return after 28 years, he left the show after a massive press backlash following harsh comments on Thatcher's policy. He's back with another wife, playing in a musical band, and satisfied to have created at least something of 'valuable' durability. This episode is really one surprise after another as if Apted himself was aware of the artificiality of narratives and deconstructed the very format that structured the show.

Charles isn't shown anymore (I read that he sued Apted forcing him to remove his footage, what an irony for a fellow documentary maker) and even the order of appearances has been altered. We don't see the three "lower class" girls together anymore, Neil appears at the start and he seems very active as a District Counsellor and a religious clerk, and it's only at the end that we meet Tony. I used to consider Neil the "soul" of the show, but what would the "Up" series be without Tony, the cab driver who's apparently more famous in Britain than Buzz Aldrin?

Collecting the memories of his youth again, I find it very ironic that Tony had to gain "The Knowledge" to become a cab driver. In fact, this could refer to all the participants, they all gained a form of knowledge, even Simon confessed that he was too lazy to study and kept on looking for excuses. Acknowledging that is a form of knowledge. There's nothing more humbling than the passing of time and what we take for wisdom is simply the capability to say "What do I know?".

I tried to play the Sorcerer's apprentice when Paul's wife said the show kept them together, I was thinking of Nick and Peter's wives and maybe something seemed already shaky in their marriage, as if you could adapt the Jesuit maxim of a "show me a kid until he's seven and I'll show you the man" for a marriage at seven months. I think the consensus is that you can't predict what will happen to someone, but maybe there's a core-personality that never changes, and that can take many directions driven by life circumstances, for better or worse.

And that's just the way it is. Finally, after watching the final opus (so far); I went on reading their bios on Wikipedia and I was saddened by the death of Lynn in 2013. But was it a surprise? Wasn't it a miracle that none of the died in 49 years? Now, should it go on to 70? 84?

They've became a part of my life and now, for the next two years, I'll be missing the show and that "at the end of the day" sequence with that thrilling score at the end. Paraphrasing the original narrator, this has been quite a glimpse! And an experience I shall never forget!

Perhaps the best entry in this series...

[dfle3 · 9/10 · 13 February 2013]

I saw this documentary spread out over three episodes on SBS TV over here. Perhaps it is the new medium which makes me think that this latest installment is the best in the series. Somehow it seems more lucid and to the point. Given that my memory of the cinema released earlier installments of this series isn't fresh, I'll just have to take on trust that this superiority in quality is real and not imagined. It's my impression that the organisation of these subjects' stories is more logically presented in any case. It just coheres better.

Being the 8th instalment in this series, you have to wonder if the 'experiment' has run its course...it must surely have 'proven' what it set out to achieve...to determine how class effects people's life chances in England. These subjects are now 56 years old (obviously) and we already know how their life unfolded...many movies ago. The director of this series, Michael Apted, is also getting on in years and you have to wonder if he will be around in another seven years to do another one of these documentaries...or if his health will be sufficient.

Each episode I saw of 56 Up on SBS had 3 or 4 subjects the featured people of that episode (I saw this documentary late last year, so it's not fresh in my memory...going on notes here). I did in fact wonder whether I had missed a previous movie in this series (which I'm not sure is the case) because at least one of the subjects did not ring a bell for me (looking at the Wikipedia entry for the "56 Up", I think that that may in fact have been Peter). However, the series is notorious for various subjects not turning up in a later movie, in seven years time (some subjects I think have never reappeared after 14 Up). If there were subjects from 7 Up missing, they were not mentioned, unfortunately (a mention of their last appearance and the reason/s given for them refusing to participate in future documentaries would have been good). Since each new documentary often recaps the subject's appearance in some/all previous "Up" documentaries, it's not strictly necessary to watch them all in order...but it might be nice to check out where it all began, "7 Up" (the concept for the series being the old Jesuit saying "Give me a child until he is seven and I will give you the man". The idea being that these formative first seven years will determine the adult).

Some things which interested me:

* If there was any reason to have another instalment in this series, for me it would be to find out how Jackie fares...in 56 Up she has rheumatoid arthritis and gets dropped from a social security benefit on the basis that she can still work. Like a soap opera, I want to know "What happens to her?". In this documentary she is relying on financial assistance from her son, I think.

* Director/interviewer Michael Apted is more the centre of attention in this episode at times...he wonders aloud to Tony if he (Tony) is racist. Tony doesn't like that one bit!

* John, a barrister, makes a good point about the series portraying his success as an inevitable part of his background (i.e. class) but he does make a good point about how fragile his background was and how his life could have crashed around him had it not been for his mother's perseverance. Such contextual information was not presented in the earlier documentaries, which suggests that the series was ignoring counter-factual evidence to its premise that class determines life outcomes.

* Sue was an interesting case. By Australian standards, her rise to being an administrator at a university would suggest social mobility. She has working class roots, I think. The way that Sue describes it, she is not doing so well. I'm curious as to whether this is indicative of the squeeze on the middle class these last few years or merely her spending habits. I'm pretty sure that someone in her position over here would be considered middle class, at least...upper middle class, in fact. I'm not suggesting that she is a spendthrift...I have no idea...just wondering if it is a possibility though...as in she thinks she is poor because she is a consumerist.

* Suzy is also interesting in this documentary, from memory. I think it is her who tells Apted that she feels a certain perverse sense of loyalty to the series...like it's a potboiler, but she feels a sense of duty to it, or something like that. In other words, she doesn't feel as if the "Up" series is some sort of important social documentary.

* The "Up" series has a musical sting (very dramatic brass riff) which reminds me of the Australian TV police drama "Homicide".

* Just btb, I was curious about a scene they included from "7 Up"...I think it involved Bruce...at the party, I think, or maybe the playground...it almost looks like he takes out another boy's eye (almost!)...or perhaps he was the victim. Looked dangerous in any case!

* I wasn't sure if all of Jackie's friends from 7 Up were in this documentary and I suspect that the more casual boy who was friends with John and his fellow 'posh' subjects was missing from this latest instalment too.

* Peter's return seems to be merely to promote his band! Apparently they are quite successful in their own way in England. It's this guy who I don't think I knew who the Hell he was!

Might be the best in the series since the original 7 Up

[asc85 · 10/10 · 4 July 2013]

While I did check the Spoiler box, I wanted to warn again that I might have some spoilers in this review.

Perhaps not surprisingly, this series has been uneven. Some very good ones, and some not-so-good ones. I'd say with the exception of the original 7 Up, this is probably the best in the series. I am five years younger than these people, so I could relate to some of the their feelings at this stage in their life. I thought that as they are aging, most of them have become more and more likable. Even cab driver Tony, one of my least favorite people in this series now comes off as a decent guy to me. Obviously, Neil is probably the most compelling character of this group, and I'm glad to see that he's doing so much better now compared to 28 and 35.

I also thought that it was smart that when Apted shows clips from prior cycles, he is starting to put on the screen which movie it came from. At 42 Up and 49 Up, it was getting extremely difficult to figure out which years we were seeing in the massive cross-cutting that is done. This makes 56 Up much easier to follow than those two.

On the DVD's Special Features, section, I would also highly recommend watching the late Roger Ebert's interview with Michael Apted after 49 Up came out. It definitely gave me additional insight and context. Next to Neil, I have always found Suzy to be my favorite person in the series, primarily because of her extreme transformation from 21 to 28! Apted notes in the commentary that Suzy is a big fan favorite for many...I thought it might have only been me! He also notes how the tone is different for each of these films, based on what is going on at that life stage, and actually refers to 28 Up as "overbearing." I found that interesting, because for me, 28 Up is by far the worst of the series.

If you haven't seen any of the series, I'm not sure I'd recommend this. One should at least see 7 Up/14 Up (on the same DVD in America) before seeing 56 Up. I started with 49 Up when it came out, and since then, started watching them in order so that I would be all caught up with 56 Up.