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49 UP
First Run Features


9.4

based on 25 reviews
Read critic reviews
How did we calculate this?

based on 7 votes
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FILM:

MPAA RATING: Not Rated

Starring Bruce Balden, Jacqueline Bassett, Symon Basterfield, Andrew Brackfield, John Brisby, Suzanne Dewey, Charles Furneaux, Nicholas Hitchon, Neil Hughes, Lynn Johnson, Paul Kligerman, Susan Sullivan, and Tony Walker

49 UP is the seventh film in a series of landmark documentaries that began 42 years ago when UK-based Granada's World in Action team, inspired by the Jesuit maxim "Give me the child until he is seven and I will give you the man," interviewed a diverse group of seven-year-old children from all over England, asking them about their lives and their dreams for the future. Michael Apted, a researcher for the original film, has returned to interview the "children" every seven years since, at ages 14, 21, 28, 35, 42 and now again at age 49. (First Run Features)

GENRE(S):	Documentary \| Foreign
DIRECTED BY:	Michael Apted
RELEASE DATE:	DVD: November 14, 2006 Theatrical: October 6, 2006
RUNNING TIME:	135 minutes, Color
ORIGIN:	UK

All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...

100

Entertainment Weekly Lisa Schwarzbaum

49 Up is a precious document, and must viewing.

100

Salon.com Andrew O'Hehir

The latest riveting, heartbreaking chapter to one of the supreme creations of documentary filmmaking, the "7 Up" series.

100

New York Post Kyle Smith

Dropping by on the same people every seven years like an old friend - or an unwelcome relative - Apted has constructed a peerless, suspenseful work that develops character to a depth that would make Tolstoy jealous. If you have any interest in documentaries, watch the DVD of the first film, "7 Up" (49 Up hits DVD Nov. 14). You won't be able to stop.

100

Boston Globe Ty Burr

No matter their wealth or social status, these people share disappointments and elations and a sense that life, in the end, may be what life is about.

100

Premiere Aaron Hillis

How 49 Up differs from its precursors for the better is that it's the first to have its participants interact with Apted the filmmaker, no longer a one-sided interviewer.

100

Chicago Tribune Michael Wilmington

If you haven't gotten hooked already on Michael Apted's series--collectively, one of the great documentaries in the history of the cinema--you should prepare yourself for the latest installment, 49 Up.

100

Chicago Reader J.R. Jones

This seventh installment is utterly fascinating.

100

Chicago Sun-Times Roger Ebert

I am not British, was born 14 years before the subjects, and yet by now identify intensely with them, because some kinds of human experience -- teenage, work, marriage, illness are universal. You could make this series in any society.

The Hollywood Reporter Frank Scheck

Michael Apted's landmark films documenting the lives of a disparate group of Brits in seven-year intervals have always been fascinating from a sociological perspective. But the latest installment proves that they are undeniably brilliant cinematically as well.

New York Daily News Jack Mathews

One of the best things about Michael Apted's uniquely ambitious and continuing documentary series on the lives of a group of British schoolchildren is that you don't have to have seen the last one to enjoy the next.

ReelViews James Berardinelli

A solid starting point for those unfamiliar with Apted's greatest work, and a must-see for those who have been down this road before.

The Onion (A.V. Club) Noel Murray

While all the "Up" films hold a fascination akin to a Christmas letter from an almost-forgotten friend, 42 Up didn't show much progress from "35 Up." Even fans of the series had to wonder whether the faces of England were going to remain permanently frozen.

Christian Science Monitor Peter Rainer

The passage of time has rarely been more forcefully conveyed in a movie, as we see clips of the interviewees not only from today but also at seven-year intervals from the past.

Los Angeles Times Carina Chocano

49 Up is more than a deeply satisfying movie; it's a reminder of the wonder contained in ordinary lives.

The New York Times A.O. Scott

Suzy's marriage, Nick's divorce, Paul's work history: none of it is my or anyone else's business. But these things -- these people -- have become, through Mr. Apted's films, a vital part of modern life, which seems to grow richer every seven years, when the new "Up" movie comes out.

LA Weekly Ella Taylor

Their pain is our pleasure, for though occasionally Apted's bluntness makes you want to take a bite out of his neck, there's something immensely satisfying about watching the playing out of ordinary lives we've become attached to over time.

The New Republic Stanley Kauffmann

The segments are so cleverly arranged--Apted includes past pictorial references for each of the people we revisit--that now there is something almost mystical involved. It is as if a wizard were giving us an overview of forty-two years that mortals were possibly not meant to see.

Austin Chronicle Marjorie Baumgarten

What the series means in the long run is anybody's guess; I just know I sleep better at night knowing it's out there.

San Francisco Chronicle Mick LaSalle

Taken as a whole, these films constitute one of the greatest uses of cinema a documentary filmmaker has ever devised. Like the other films in the series, 49 Up is alternately touching and mundane, part soap opera, part reality show and part anthropological study.

Seattle Post-Intelligencer Paula Nechak

Because the subjects are all mellowing into grandparenthood and their abrasive, wilder days are behind them, this particular "scrapbook" isn't as heavy hitting and hard-edged as its predecessors.

New York Magazine David Edelstein

Profoundly different from the others. On the cusp of their half-century mark, Apted's British subjects have accommodated themselves to what they were, what they are, and what they will be.

Village Voice Michael Atkinson

Moving and ambitious in scale like nothing else in cinema, Michael Apted's Up films began in 1964 as a BBC news program exploring an old Jesuit maxim: "Give me the child until he is seven, and I will show you the man."

Washington Post Desson Thomson

The more you watch, the more you are committing yourself to watching "56 Up" and beyond.

Miami Herald Marta Barber

For Americans, the film may be best taken as fodder for debate, especially for individuals interested in sociology. You wonder why those people stuck to the commitment. You may also wonder how different a parallel American film would've been.

Variety Eddie Cockrell

It doesn't make for involving drama, unless the audience is already invested in the subjects' fortunes. Thus, 49 Up will have more appeal for long-time followers than newcomers.

The average user rating for this movie is 9.4 (out of 10) based on 7 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.

Ralph M. gave it a9:
A fascinating look at life. I don't know how much distortion the documentation process causes, but the stories of this group of individuals pushes through time and time - sad, tragic, inspiring. This time around I found a theme of middle age contentment - one of the more optimistic editions of this series.

Dan C. gave it a9:
The series is brilliant, a 10 out of 10 all the way. I found this installment ever so slightly less compelling than the previous ones, because the subjects have moved into comfortable later middle age. Still, it's a great film. Recommendation: watch the entire series on DVD before viewing this one - it's well worth the investment.

Joseph FJ gave it a10:
Several are heroes to me. They may not have achieved their goals but from a standpoint of family, grand children and toughing it through, I have enormous respect and admiration for them.

Evie B. gave it a10:
I've been revisiting all the previous "Up" installments in preparation for seeing this. As a result, I find myself quoting lines nonstop ( "I read the Observer and the Times!"). This series is so, so good. I just love everyone in it--even the people I find dull or annoying. After all this time, I can't help myself.

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49 UP First Run Features

49 UP
First Run Features