Michael Apted Up And Away
By: Kevin Filipski |
Tuesday January 18, 2005 |
| Director Michael Apted looks back on what could be one of the greatest achievements in film making history and forward to the next installment. |
| Michael Apted has directed Oscar winners (Sissy Spacek in Coal Miner's Daughter), Oscar nominees (Sigourney Weaver in Gorillas in the Mist), even a 007 adventure (The World Is Not Enough). But the Up Series, which began in the early 60s with a modest film called 7 Up, looking into the lives of 14 regular 7-year-old British kids, is definitely the high point of his career.
Now, with the release of all the Up films on DVD from First Run Features - yes, Apted returned to see how they were doing at ages 14, 21, 28, 35 and 42 - it's possible to see the films as one of the greatest achievements in not only documentary filmmaking, but in movie history. Apted, of course, is much more modest - but proud. "(The series) does have quite a following here in America and throughout the English-speaking world," he recently said while taking a break from shooting a commercial north of New York City. "It was never intended to be this kind of monumental proposition that I'm going to make films with these people for the rest of my life. It was just by chance. It was England at a particular point in time, and a look at England at a point in history." The director also stresses the humane aspects of the films. "They are so powerful to viewers because they're very funny," he says. "When we set up the scenario (of kids all the same age), it was obvious that we would revisit them. Back then, of course, things were much slower than now, so seven years seemed the proper thing to do, a good amount of time to wait." Since directing a documentary is so much different than a fiction feature - and since Apted has ample experience doing both - it's interesting to hear his take on how he shapes each episode; after all, each succeeding film must build upon the previous one, so we often see older footage that fills in gaps between installments. "The art in making these films is not very disguised," he admits. "It's not like casting or shaping a scene (in features): it's more stressful. And there aren't many extras on the DVD set, no deleted scenes or anything, because enough already. (42 Up does contain an enlightening Apted commentary.) You get used to seeing the highlights of the other films in each successive one. When we do 49 Up, we will probably include only 15 percent of what was seen in 42 Up. "Each film is different," he continues. I don't really know what the films will be like until I get to them. 35 Up was consumed with death, because many of them were losing their parents. 42 Up seemed more optimistic - and before that, 21 Up and 28 Up were filled with the joys of life and ambition." Having spent the better part of four decades with the people whose lives he's chronicled, Apted quite understandably has grown attached to them. "Some I'm in touch with a lot," he says. "It's a bit like a family - some you see a lot of and others you don't hear from too often. I even screen my new films for them and their families. I've been involved in their lives for over 40 years, so it's very emotional. It's quite striking how different they all are." Like a good father, Apted worried that continuously opening these people's lives to the public from an early age may have been detrimental. "They didn't have much say in it, of course, because they were only seven at the beginning," he explains. "Other people exposed their lives to us. So you wonder about the effects it had on them. But looking back, I don't think there have been any traumatic effects." In a related project, Apted premiered a TV film, Marriage in America, which followed several couples planning their weddings, in 2002 on A&E. The status of that project, which is to follow these relationships for several years, is up in the air, unfortunately. "It was very well received, but it wasn't very successful because we lost some of the financing for (future installments)," Apted concedes. "The patrons for the Up films have stayed in business and stayed supportive all these years. But financing is very unreliable. "Looking at marriages over a decade with nine couples was an interesting idea - I keep in touch with them to see how they're doing. We had an arrangement with them and they're hanging in. So I hope I can explore it further." Lastly, there's the inevitable question: when is 49 Up coming? "I'm going to shoot it in the spring of 2005," Apted says. "Of the 14 that started the project, 11 have been regular contributors. I'll be happy if I can get those 11 again. I think I'd stop doing it if most would refuse, but so far they haven't." |
