In 1964 the WORLD IN ACTION TV series followed a group of children in England from different backgrounds. The half-hour program was meant show the potential future leader of the country in 2000. Later a researcher on the project Michael Apted stepped into the director's chair to see how the children had grown seven years after the first film. Apted has checked in with the subjects for a new film every seven years since, giving the world a filmic time capsule of these individuals and the times in which they lived.
John, Charles and Andrew were young boys at the same pre-preparatory school in the first film. All three in the second film are attending the schools they said they would be attending in the first. While all three came off fairly snobbish in the first installment, only John retains a conservative pretension, while the others seem more progressive, especially Charles who finds the pursuit of wealth to be a road to unhappiness because of all the people you have to ruin to get there. John, on the other hand, wants fame and power, but doesn't believe he has to be ruthless to get it, only smart. Suzy, a girl from a wealthy, sheltered background, at 14, lives on her family's Scottish estate. The distance and indifference from the first film has only grown. The other wealthy child in the film was Bruce, who at seven wanted to be a missionary, but by 14, decided that he wouldn't be good at it because he isn't good at public speaking.
Jackie, Lynn and Sue were three friends in primary school at 7, since Jackie and Sue went to comprehensive school, while Lynn chose grammar school. Nick still lives in the tiny village he did in at seven, but now attends a boarding school instead of the one-school in the first film. He is certain that he doesn't want to be a farmer like his father and grandfather. Peter and Neil, who live in a Liverpool suburb, both wanted to be astronauts when they were seven. Neil's attitude seems the most changed since the first film, changing from a bright-eyed, energetic little boy into a more reserved teen.
The two students that were attending a charity boarding school at seven were Paul and Simon. Paul now lives in Australia with his father and stepmother and seems even more uncertain about his self then the child who asked what was a university at seven. Simon, the only non-white in the series, believes that white and black have to get us to living together or they will both fail. Tony, the plucky seven-year-old from the East End of London, seems to be on track to his goal of becoming a jockey. His frankness hasn't changed in seven years.
One of the most striking changes from the first film is in the confidence of the children. In SEVEN UP!, all the subjects looked up and made eye contact with the interviewer. In the follow-up, about half the kids look down as they talk and those kids all tend to be the ones that suffer from the most teenage doubt. Interestingly, it's doesn't fall down class lines, cutting across the wealthy and the poor. Nick often buries his head in his knees, while Suzy only lifts her eyes to express her disgust with a particular question.
When presented with the question of race relations, all the children express the need for tolerance. Suzy, who stated that she didn't want to meet black people in the first film, expresses simple indifference at 14. John, the most conservative of the group, doesn't see the need for mingling with people from other backgrounds, because at boarding school he has the chance to meet other children with varying interests and that's what really matters. On the topic of labor, John is strongly against striking, however unlike the first film where they all agreed, Andrew and Charles disagree on taking away the workers' right to strike. Jackie and her friends support the right to strike as well, having parent who were on strike at the time of filming.
Apted was 23 when he was involved in the first of this series. Now at 67, he has dedicated his life to capturing the progression of these people's lives. Unlike manipulative reality television, which wallows in tawdriness, the UP series is a time capsule of changing eras and attitudes seen through the eyes of children as they mature into adults. It's a remarkable series worth waiting another seven years to see what happens next.
Rick DeMott
Animation World Network
Creator of Rick's Flicks Picks
