Seven Up

Want more
We watched the first of the series and wanted to see them all in chronilogical order. However, we were disappointed in not having the others available.

Astonishing project
My rating is not just for this film but for the entire series, in which 14 children are interviewed every seven years (the latest, still with all of the original participants, is "56 Up".) It's an amazing conceptions; I've only seen two so far, but it seems to pay off handsomely. The interviews are extremely well-done and manage to bring out both the diversity and the continuity of the children's lives. A strong theme is the effect of class background: the children from poor families (including some from an orphanage) talk and move very differently from the upper-class children; the latter dance ballet and speak with precision about which Oxford college they expect to go to, while the latter race around a playground and expect that they will "walk around" till they find some job they can do. Fascinating at every turn.

Great insight into school children in English society
I had not heard of this study until they released thefilm, 56 Up, this year. I went back and watched 7 Up to see what the study was all about. It was an amazing study of school children from many different social strata within the British class system. Watching and listening to these children, one naturally think one can predict how they will turn out.

The following films (every seven years) give an amazing picture that does not necessarily follow those preconceived notions.

Well worth watching and following up with the later films.

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