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The Up Series is what I call "temporally ambitious". It was very impressive that Michael Apted started the series at age 23 and producing a new episode every 7

The Up Series is what I call "temporally ambitious". It was very impressive that Michael Apted started the series at age 23 and producing a new episode every 7 years until last year, when he was SEVENTY EIGHT years old. Another "temporally ambitious" series was George Lucas' Star Wars films, which used the real-life ageing of the actors to tell a multi-generational story that (whether you think it's highbrow or lowbrow) has massively influenced multiple generations. I wish more visionary film makers produce such "temporally ambitious" works. Even something as "simple" as taking a photo of yourself everyday for 60+ years and make a 60 second timelapse video yields impressive results. Most people are understandably focused on the present and near-future, but there are some visionary artists who build really cool things over a much longer timescales.

jamesrcole 6y ago
There’s the Before film trilogy https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Before_trilogy https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Before_trilogy Before Sunrise (1995), Before Sunset (2004) and Before Midnight (2013)
- FemmeAndroid 6y ago
  And Boyhood (2014) by the same director.
- gmanis 6y ago
  That is a beautiful set of movies. Highly recommended.
RcouF1uZ4gsC 6y ago
> Another "temporally ambitious" series was George Lucas' Star Wars films “temporally ambitious” implies some sort of forethought. With Star Wars it was just a series of profit maximizing attempts. George Lucas released Episode IV. Then he saw a bunch of demand and made V and VI. Then later made I-III since there was more money to be made. Disney bought the franchise and decided there was still more money and nostalgia is a powerful factor and made VII - IX using a lot of the same actors. In the same vein, I guess Indiana Jones is temporally ambitious as it shows an aging Harrison Ford. But unlike the other examples, I there really wasn’t an artistic vision. It was more financially ambitious which accidentally ended up looking like temporally ambitious.
- someperson 6y ago
  In the early 1980s George Lucas asked Mark Hamill if he wanted to reprise his role in 30 years to "hand excalibur down to the next generation": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4UGV7WVB-bA https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4UGV7WVB-bA The original 1977 movie was titled 'Star Wars' (without any subtitles). The temporal ambition started with titling the next movie "Episode V: Empire Strikes Back" and renaming the original movie "Episode IV: A New Hope". I agree maximizing profits plays a big part, he made things up as he went along and in interviews over the years he switched between saying it's a 6/9/12 movie saga. But whatever his motivations, he still had the temporal ambition to "start from the middle" and leveraged that idea to build a lasting franchise. And that really impresses me.
Mediterraneo10 6y ago
For "temporally ambitious" films, see also Cédric Klapisch's L'auberge espagnole trilogy which tracks some friends from their student years in 2000 to the age of forty in 2013.

jamesrcole 6y ago

There’s the Before film trilogy https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Before_trilogy https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Before_trilogy Before Sunrise (1995), Before Sunset (2004) and Before Midnight (2013)

FemmeAndroid 6y ago
And Boyhood (2014) by the same director.
gmanis 6y ago
That is a beautiful set of movies. Highly recommended.

RcouF1uZ4gsC 6y ago

> Another "temporally ambitious" series was George Lucas' Star Wars films “temporally ambitious” implies some sort of forethought. With Star Wars it was just a series of profit maximizing attempts. George Lucas released Episode IV. Then he saw a bunch of demand and made V and VI. Then later made I-III since there was more money to be made. Disney bought the franchise and decided there was still more money and nostalgia is a powerful factor and made VII - IX using a lot of the same actors. In the same vein, I guess Indiana Jones is temporally ambitious as it shows an aging Harrison Ford. But unlike the other examples, I there really wasn’t an artistic vision. It was more financially ambitious which accidentally ended up looking like temporally ambitious.

someperson 6y ago
In the early 1980s George Lucas asked Mark Hamill if he wanted to reprise his role in 30 years to "hand excalibur down to the next generation": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4UGV7WVB-bA https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4UGV7WVB-bA The original 1977 movie was titled 'Star Wars' (without any subtitles). The temporal ambition started with titling the next movie "Episode V: Empire Strikes Back" and renaming the original movie "Episode IV: A New Hope". I agree maximizing profits plays a big part, he made things up as he went along and in interviews over the years he switched between saying it's a 6/9/12 movie saga. But whatever his motivations, he still had the temporal ambition to "start from the middle" and leveraged that idea to build a lasting franchise. And that really impresses me.

Mediterraneo10 6y ago

For "temporally ambitious" films, see also Cédric Klapisch's L'auberge espagnole trilogy which tracks some friends from their student years in 2000 to the age of forty in 2013.