49 Up
(Documentary)
Picture:
C+ Sound: C+ Extras: B- Documentary: B-
Is
Michael Apted driving people crazy? It
is bad enough that his James Bond film The
World Is Not Enough (1999) is one of the worst films in the series, but for
decades, he has been tracking a group of children in what has become known as
the Up Series, nicely collected by
First Run Features stopping at 42 Up. That set is covered at the following link:
http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/1586/Up+Series+(Documentary)
Happening
every seven years, it seemed (or was that I was hoping) that it was the end,
that he had finished his work and would allow these individuals to have some
privacy. So many had dropped out by the
last part that we figured it was the end.
Not so.
The new
2006 work goes back yet again and it is starting to wear thin, especially for
the obviously annoyed participants. Yes,
it can be interesting at times, but it inevitably feels forced and exploitive
in ways the previous installments did not.
We recommend you start with the early shows, then work your way up and
see where you might want to stop. If you
love it, you’ll love this one, but many others like this critic may start top
question if the project has somehow outlasted its goals.
The anamorphically
enhanced 1.78 X 1 image is mixed as you’d expect from so many different
sources, but is fine for the purpose.
The Dolby Digital 2.0 is a mix of simple stereo and mono with a little
boosting. It fares as well as the later
installments, though we think digital HD transfers of the old TV 16mm film
would yield amazing results. The
combination is as good as the predecessors.
Extras include a 29 minutes long interview between Apted and critic
Roger Ebert, stills and Apted biography.
Ebert
says he cannot wait for the next one, but I don’t know if many will say the
same after watching this installment. It
is amazing, but there seems to be a strange transition going on here and only
time will reveal if it is for the better or worse. We’ll see.
- Nicholas Sheffo
