The seventh film in the unique "Up Series" - documentaries made for Granada, the privately held British television corporation - that has followed a group of 14 ostensibly normal English subjects, of differing backgrounds, from age 7 to 49, issuing a follow-up film every 7 years. This latest installment is the best to date. It is well organized, presenting one person's life at a time rather than skipping around among them. Nearing age 50, these people have become highly thoughtful and articulate; they're all more interesting now than ever before. And the director, Michael Apted, has also vastly improved his skills at interviewing his subjects, which makes a great difference for the better. What impresses is how well nearly everyone has done in life.

The original thesis of the series is that kids grow up without much change from the way they were early on, a view put forward in the 16th Century Jesuit aphorism: "Give me the child until he is seven, and I will give you the man." But the life trajectories of a number of these individuals belie that view, suggesting instead that people often do change in response to life circumstances, a view supported in several 20th Century accounts of human development across the lifespan (e.g., the work of the Harvard psychologist Robert White and his contemporary, the psychoanalyst Erik Erikson).

The original thesis in the first film, "7 Up," also held that social class, or socioeconomic opportunity, had a controlling effect on development, a view that excludes the influence of both hereditary and learned aspects of individual psychological makeup and adaptation. Roger Ebert lists the "Up Series" among his top ten film productions of all time, and has said that the series represents "…an inspired, almost noble, use of the film medium." I heartily agree. My grades: 10/10 (A+) (Seen on 10/17/06)

Michael Apted returns again with his kids. This time is a 3 hour extravaganza. It seems this one is more about the kids. While it's wonderful to see everybody happy with their kids, the drama isn't always there. The problems are very much everyday problems that happens to everybody all the time.

I'm watching this after the events of the financial meltdown and the part with Tony is haunting.

Jackie comes after Michael Apted and he really comes off as one of the characters for the first time. It's a bit of behind the scenes moment which makes it absolutely riveting. She's breaking down the 4th wall a bit here.

For whatever reason, the participants are more forthcoming now. It seems that they're more open about the past. It's as if the facade don't need to stay up anymore. Nicholas can finally admit that his research has come to nothing, and gave some great insights into divorce.

It's as if most of them have past some kind of milestone. They are mostly content and looking forward to their children and grandchildren. Most of them are settled and trying to make sense of their past.

I know that it probably seems pretty silly of me to watch the latest installment before watching the previous ones - and I never really planned to do it like that - but I've watched "49 Up", and I really admired it. All twelve of the interviewees provide strong incite into the present state of affairs. True, Michael Apted has interviewed them so many times that it very likely is getting somewhat intrusive, but I think that we do need documentation of what the world is like every couple of years; I mean, just look at what all's happened in the world (or even in the characters' lives) since 1998.

Anyway, I'm now very eager to see the other installments. And I intend to watch them chronologically. I definitely recommend this one.