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Poster for 49 Up

49 Up

In 1964 a group of seven year old children were interviewed for the documentary "Seven Up". They've been filmed every seven years since. Now they are 49.

2006 · 2h 15m · Not Rated Documentary
Directed by Michael Apted

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Overview

49 Up is the seventh film in a series of landmark documentaries that began 42 years ago when UK-based Granada's World in Action team, inspired by the Jesuit maxim "Give me the child until he is seven and I will give you the man," interviewed a diverse group of seven-year-old children from all over England, asking them about their lives and their dreams for the future. Michael Apted, a researcher for the original film, has returned to interview the "children" every seven years since, at ages 14, 21, 28, 35, 42 and now again at age 49.In this latest chapter, more life-changing decisions are revealed, more shocking announcements made and more of the original group take part than ever before, speaking out on a variety of subjects including love, marriage, career, class and prejudice.

Director and cast

Critics on Rotten Tomatoes

Top critics, in their words

All reviews
97%
Tomatometer
Fresh

This seventh installment is utterly fascinating, drawing heavily on footage from the previous movies to follow each child on the journey into middle age.

J. R. Jones, Chicago Reader
Fresh

Michael Apted's Up series remains one of the great imaginative leaps in film.

Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times
Fresh

I can think of no single movie, fictional or factual, that more strongly awakens our common humanity or that establishes such a marvelous, tight bond with its characters.

Michael Wilmington, Chicago Tribune
Fresh

The segments are so cleverly arranged -- [director Michael Apted] includes past pictorial references for each of the people we revisit -- that now there is something almost mystical involved.

Stanley Kauffmann, The New Republic
Fresh

But a funny thing happened on the way to the class-warfare lecture: Most of the subjects got on with living their lives, ignoring their class distinctions in the process.

Sean Means, Film.com

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