posted by NotAnyRon on December 4, 2006; screened on September 21, 2006
Paul Almond
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1964
There is one thing about young children that will never change; they will never hesitate to tell you the truth as they see it. Seven Up! was originally intended to be a view into the state of England in 1964 through the eyes of a group of diverse seven-year-olds. The filmmakers had an agenda and they made no attempt to hide it. The film was meant to be a diatribe against the class system in England, which was extremely prevalent at the time. The children in the lower class could be found fighting, misbehaving in class, and scrounging money to go to the movies on the weekends. The upper class children were singing in Latin and practicing ballet in their classrooms, traveling to the Alps for ski vacations and even enforcing their own rules upon each other. We also hear the children's thoughts on their hopes, dreams, boyfriends and girlfriends, expectations for school, and what they think about children in other tiers of the class system. This is where the brutal honesty comes into play. The children in the lower classes simply don't have the ambition of the children in the upper classes. They don't have anyone expecting great things from them. They don't have the educational system to allow them to achieve good jobs or careers. One child, Paul, when asked if he's going to university, honestly answers "What does university mean?" On the other hand, the children in the most elite schools can name the exact prep school track they will take to university.
What none of the filmmakers knew at the time, though, was that we would actually get a chance to see what happens to these children over time. This was Michael Apted's first job out of film school. He was only a researcher on this project, tasked to find the children to include in the film. While this film was meant to be a stand alone project, Apted had the inspired notion to continue with the children every seven years, creating the mammoth and still ongoing work of The Up Series. In preparation for the release of the latest installment, 49 Up, I decided to watch all of the films in sequence, and I'll be reviewing each of them individually. This first film was one of the best, because the children have nothing to hide. We are able to see their earliest environments and personalities very clearly, with none of the walls that are inevitably built up with life experience. Even if you are tempted to skip the first films and head straight to 49 Up, I would highly recommend starting here to see the kids at their most open and honest time in life and to see first hand the children that will grow into the adults in 49 Up.