Michael Apted’s “UP” series of British documentaries remains as fascinating and frustrating and beautiful and sad as ever with “63 UP,” bringing 56 years of life, love, growth and heartache to bear since Apted was a researcher on the original installment, 1963’s “7 UP,” and took over as filmmaker from then on.
If you’ve seen the others, it’s hard not to think of this phase as the most reflective and slowed down, with quite a few of the participants surrounded by not just kids but grandkids, whereas they themselves were once running around as the cameras and questions tried to keep up with their ambitions. People are greyer and paunchier and also, for the most part, settled about where things have taken them.
Big life questions may still make these often-reluctant interviewees bristle, but they laugh them off more quickly because they’re used to this process every seven years. If anything, they’re welling up a bit faster at the emotional queries, because loss — usually the death of parents, or the prospect of leaving a loved one behind as old age hits — is now an ever-present reality. One subject is seriously ill and shaken by it, and the series has even experienced its first passing: Librarian Lynn, who died from health complications after an accident. Apted rightly includes her story anyway, checking in with her widowed husband and grown daughters.
That emotional layering, of a friendly check-in with people whose lives we’ve come to care about, is how the series has most progressed from its political origins as an experiment in English class mobility under a microscope, picking a bifurcated group of kids at opposite ends of the economic spectrum with the idea — always restated each time out, to us, and as a theory to the participants — that to look at the child is to see the adult. For the most part, that’s seemed true. Maybe Tony’s trajectory is the best refutation of it; where Apted once thought this bulldog East Ender was headed toward criminality and jail, the cabbie and sometime actor got himself to a middle-class life in the countryside.
That Tony gets to tease Apted on camera about the director’s assumptions is one of the ways the built-in prejudices of the series has turned into the occasionally worthy self-critique. That there were only four girls chosen out of fourteen subjects has always been a problem, for instance (one Apted has acknowledged) and once again in “63 UP” we’re reminded of what Jackie thought of Apted’s narrow-minded questioning of her at 21: all about virtue and men, nothing about her views of the world.
What the world has given single-mom Jackie, now, is the fear that her much-needed disability benefits are on tenuous ground. The world does feel different in terms of opportunity. College administrator Sue, the bubbliest of participants, sees her council-estate upbringing — a government program that helped her to build a foundation for financial independence — as the last of its kind with homelessness so rampant. Brexit is now a topic, too, one that the few participants asked about it don’t sound too happy about, however they voted.
Ironically, though, considering Jackie’s disapproval of the series’ sexist origins, it’s not so much the state of the state as every subject’s feelings about family and companionship that have become the films’ emotional superpower, because they get to the heart of the epic scale of an ongoing documentary that covers the ebbs and flows of a whole life. The most touching segment chronicles the lifelong friendship of children’s home survivors Paul and Symon, who never let being a continent apart (Paul moved to Australia as a child) keep them from the occasional reunion with their wives. Hearing them talk about how they’ve processed coming from difficult or broken upbringings, and sought to reconcile that with their own home lives (Symon even becoming a regular foster parent), is lump-in-the-throat stuff.
The real character suspense, however, is saved for Neil, the series’ first dramatically off-track figure when he became homeless in his ’20s, causing moviegoers to fear for his future. Well, Neil is still around, a rural character still struggling with mental illness, and still politically active with his local council work. He’s had emotional ups and downs, but even in his disheveled, on-the-edge state he also represents the part of the series that is most human, this notion that there are things about us that keep us going, even if from the outside we may come across as a less than ideal example of where we hoped to be.
Who knows if we’ll get a “70 UP.” If, for whatever reason, “63 UP” were the last, it would be a perfectly satisfying summing-up of what’s proven to be the surest motive for any of its participants to keep filling us in on their personal lives, issues of class and destiny be damned — they did it because time, love, and just enough fortune allowed it. Neil says it simply, honestly and truest when Apted asks the inevitable question about whether he’s happy: “I’m just happy when something goes right.”
12 Documentaries to Check Out This Fall, Including Films by Bruce Springsteen and Agnès Varda (Photos)
This fall has documentary releases about rock stars, athletes and even one posthumous release from an auteur: Oscar winner Agnès Varda. Here are 10 with impending releases you need to check out.
Warner Bros./HBO/Janus Films/Magnolia Pictures
"Untouchable" - Streaming Sept. 2 (Hulu)
The Hulu documentary "Untouchable" opens some still fresh wounds about the Harvey Weinstein scandal and the #MeToo movement. Ursula Macfarlane's documentary premiered at Sundance and it features some harrowing interviews with accusers such as Rosanna Arquette, Hope d'Amore, Paz de la Huerta, Erika Rosenbaum and others.
Sundance Film Festival. Courtesy of Sundance Institute | Barbara Alper/Getty Images
"Linda Ronstadt: The Sound of My Voice" - Sept. 6 (Greenwich Entertainment & 1091)
Oscar winners Rob Epstein and Jeffrey Friedman direct this film about the career of Linda Ronstadt that includes archival footage that spans 50 years. It charts the early days of her career in the 1960s through becoming the highest paid female rock and roll performer in the '70s, all culminating in her retirement in 2011 due to her battle with Parkinson’s disease.
Henry Diltz/CNN Films
"Blink of an Eye" - Sept. 6 (1091)
History isn't often focused on the losers, but "Blink of an Eye" looks at the career of Michael Waltrip, a NASCAR race car driver who held a record losing streak across 462 races. Despite his struggles, he was invited to be a part of Dale Earnhardt Sr.'s racing team and soon earned his first checkered flag. Tragically, that race was the 2001 Daytona 500, the race in which Earnhardt Sr. was killed in a crash on the race's final lap. "Blink of an Eye" examines Waltrip's relationship with the Earnhardt family, and the documentary from director Paul Taublieb will also be adapted into a narrative feature film.
1091 Media
"Liam Gallagher: As It Was" - Sept. 13 (Screen Media)
With Oasis, Liam Gallagher was the frontman of one of the biggest rock bands in the world. But the film "Liam Gallagher: As It Was" looks at how Gallagher had to reset his career and find his voice after splitting from the band as part of his fractured relationship with his brother Noel. (In fact, Noel refused to allow Liam to use any Oasis songs in this documentary, which coincides with the release of Gallagher's second solo album, "Why Me? Why Not.") Directors Gavin Fitzgerald and Charlie Lightening capture the frank and frequently foul-mouthed Gallagher behind the scenes and at home with his mother grousing about Noel.
Getty Images
"Diego Maradona" - Sept. 20 in theaters; October on HBO (HBO)
Asif Kapadia's gift as a filmmaker is weaving a narrative entirely through archival footage. Just as with "Senna" and "Amy," Kapadia combs through over 500 hours of the legendary Argentinian soccer star's personal archive. The film starts with his arrival in Europe in July 1984 and follows how he was treated as though he were a God in the subsequent years, both on and off the field. But it also examines how that extreme level of fame led to darker days and strained relationships.
Alfredo Capozzi
"Where's My Roy Cohn?" - Sept. 20 (Sony Pictures Classics)
Filmmaker Matt Tyrnauer told TheWrap at Sundance that he chose to make his film about the political mastermind Roy Cohn -- best known as Sen. Joseph McCarthy's chief counsel during the hearings about Communists in government -- the day Donald Trump was elected. His ruthless influence has since been felt far and wide, not just on politics but on the culture at large, serving as a mentor for Roger Stone, Ronald Reagan and Trump alike. The film takes a blunt approach in describing just how deeply this one man has shaped American democracy and society.
Altimeter Films/Sundance Film Festival
"Midnight Traveler" - Sept. 18 (Oscilloscope)
Afghan filmmaker Hassan Fazili got intimate access to the story of a family fleeing their home after being targeted by the Taliban. That's because it was his own family who was on the run. Fazili shot his film "Midnight Traveler" across several years on three iPhones, capturing daring moments as they crossed borders and more intimate home movie moments of his family as refugees. The doc won the World Cinema Documentary Special Jury Award for No Borders at this year's Sundance Film Festival.
Oscilloscope Pictures
"Western Stars" - October (Warner Bros.)
Bruce Springsteen knew he wasn't going to tour promoting his latest album "Western Stars," so he and collaborator Thom Zimny co-directed a documentary that features live performances of all 13 of the album's tracks. Springsteen parked under a 100-year-old barn to perform the more acoustic, melancholy sounds of "Western Stars," and the film is laced with The Boss's narration and archival footage as he reflects on his past.
Courtesy of TIFF/Warner Bros.
"The Cave" - Mid-October (Nat Geo)
Not to be confused with the narrative feature about the Thai soccer team rescue mission, "The Cave" is the latest film from "Last Man in Aleppo" director Feras Fayyad as he gets inside a secret, hidden, underground hospital in Syria. The hospital is led by a team of female medical professionals and civilians and provides under the radar care for the besieged refugees and locals in the region. Fayyad specifically profiles the work of Dr. Amani, a 30-year-old pediatrician who works tirelessly to restore health and hope to Syrian youth.
Nat Geo
"The Kingmaker" - Late October (Greenwich Entertainment/Showtime)
Lauren Greenfield has made a name for herself directing documentary profiles on those who live opulently and lavishly, specifically with her films "The Queen of Versailles" and "Generation Wealth." But her latest combines that lavish lifestyle with politics, obtaining unprecedented access to the former first lady of the Philippines, Imelda Marcos. "The Kingmaker" explores the disturbing legacy of the Marcos regime and chronicles Imelda's present-day push to help her son, Bongbong, win the vice presidency. Greenfield's film takes on the form of a "dark fairy tale" as Marcos tries to rewrite her family's corrupt history and prove she's a matriarch who deeply loves her country.
Greenwich Entertainment/Showtime
"Scandalous" - Nov. 15 (Magnolia/CNN Films)
Mark Landsman's "Scandalous" looks at the life of Generoso Pope Jr., the media magnate who turned the National Enquirer from a simple racing and sporting magazine to a household name for gossip and one that frequently finds itself at the center of political scandal. The film's history dates back to the 1950s but includes interviews with former staffers and other media experts who examine how the paper has thrived on its diet of scandal, gossip, medical oddities, conspiracy theories and paparazzi photos.
Magnolia Pictures
"Varda by Agnès" - Nov. 22 (Janus Films)
The final film of the late French auteur Agnès Varda is a playful and profound retrospective on her career as examined by Varda herself. She reflects in a autobiography of sorts on filmmaking, feminism, aging and even on lighter topics like cats, colors, beaches and heart-shaped potatoes. The film premiered at the Berlin International Film Festival in February, shortly before her death in March at age 90.
Janus Films
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Films about Harvey Weinstein, Liam Gallagher, Linda Ronstadt and Diego Maradona also hitting theaters and streaming
This fall has documentary releases about rock stars, athletes and even one posthumous release from an auteur: Oscar winner Agnès Varda. Here are 10 with impending releases you need to check out.