Seven Up

Seven Up was a journey film or series that followed the lives of many children from the age seven and continues to follow them in incriments of seven years. For example, the first film was filmed while all of the subjects were seven years old, and the next filming was done at age fourteen. The children are now ages 53-54. The producer Michael Apted referred to it as a humanisitic documentary. He was also known for saying, "Give me a child till he's seven, and I'll give you the man." This documentary focused on class, not on race, as television or movies often to in the U.S. Apted followed around children from low class to high class, clearly exemplifying the differences just by filming them. Apted in a way exploited the beliefs of the low, middle, and upper classes. He played around with the certainity/uncertainty in the children's lives. For example, one of the low class boys had no idea what he was going to do with his life when he was seven, but by the 21st year, he was in a steady job and seemed to be much matured from what he once was. On the other hand, one of the upper class boys was certain he would be in a good job and wealthy when he was older, but for many years in his life, he was unemployed and barely making it. I believe that Apted did showed these differences purposefully to show that nothing is ever certain. This added to the documentary's label of a retrospective documentary becuase the children are recapping what has gone on in their lives for the past seven years in a short period of time.