3 ms·

The Up Series is the most wonderful piece of work. Maybe I’m predisposed, but I watched Boyhood some years ago in the cinema and being able to see life happen i

by vr46 6y ago

The Up Series is the most wonderful piece of work. Maybe I’m predisposed, but I watched Boyhood some years ago in the cinema and being able to see life happen is incredible. Apted didn’t start the series, he was a sideman on the first, 7 Up, and possibly 7+7, but it is very much his body of work. I wish he had been able to retain more of the people and also, as he said, had more women, but it stands alone atop the visual and motion picture database in my head. Unassailable.

TheOtherHobbes 6y ago
Possibly the best TV production of the 20th century. I wouldn't be surprised if it's still being discussed by historians centuries from now.
JKCalhoun 6y ago
Agree. There is a sublime melancholy to be had watching actual people's lives. The temporal nature of the series (as pointed out in these comments) inevitably leads to contemplating one's own mortality (to put a fine point on it). The "Up" particant's ambitious and youthful energy in some cases turns to cynicism and it hurts to recognize these things in yourself. Most eventually pair off and it is on to what is usually the next stage of life — parenthood. And some of the lost energy returns in the rearing of their children — balancing it with their relationship with their partner, their careers. Being just a decade or so behind these people gives me a sometimes sober preview of life to come, sometimes hopeful. Always though their "common" lives slowly reveal the plain beauty of a simple life lived honestly. For people new to the series, jump into the middle. The first of the series are more clinical — intended to explore classism in the U.K. But as the series goes on, the class-angle falls away and, as I say, the beauty of watching people go through what we all must go through becomes the more pointed aspect of the experiment.

3 ms·

The Up Series is the most wonderful piece of work. Maybe I’m predisposed, but I watched Boyhood some years ago in the cinema and being able to see life happen i

by vr46 6y ago

TheOtherHobbes 6y ago
Possibly the best TV production of the 20th century. I wouldn't be surprised if it's still being discussed by historians centuries from now.
JKCalhoun 6y ago
Agree. There is a sublime melancholy to be had watching actual people's lives. The temporal nature of the series (as pointed out in these comments) inevitably leads to contemplating one's own mortality (to put a fine point on it). The "Up" particant's ambitious and youthful energy in some cases turns to cynicism and it hurts to recognize these things in yourself. Most eventually pair off and it is on to what is usually the next stage of life — parenthood. And some of the lost energy returns in the rearing of their children — balancing it with their relationship with their partner, their careers. Being just a decade or so behind these people gives me a sometimes sober preview of life to come, sometimes hopeful. Always though their "common" lives slowly reveal the plain beauty of a simple life lived honestly. For people new to the series, jump into the middle. The first of the series are more clinical — intended to explore classism in the U.K. But as the series goes on, the class-angle falls away and, as I say, the beauty of watching people go through what we all must go through becomes the more pointed aspect of the experiment.