The Complete Up Series

Product Description Peabody Award winning series! This seven disc collector's edition includes all eight films: Seven UP, 7 Plus Seven, 21 UP, 28 UP, 35 UP, 42 UP, 49 UP, and 56 UP."Give me the child until he is seven and I will give you the man."Starting in 1964 with Seven Up, The UP Series has explored this Jesuit maxim. The original concept was to interview 14 children from diverse backgrounds from all over England, asking them about their lives and their dreams for the future. Every seven years, renowned director Michael Apted, a researcher for Seven Up, has been back to talk to them, examining the progression of their lives.From cab driver Tony to schoolmates Jackie, Lynn and Susan and the enigmatic Neil, as they turn 56 more life-changing decisions and surprising developments are revealed.An astonishing, unforgettable look at the structure of life in the 20th century, The UP Series is, according to critic Roger Ebert, "an inspired, almost noble use of the film medium. Apted penetrates to the central mystery of life."Bonus Features Include: Exclusive Interview: Roger Ebert talks with Michael Apted Audio Commentary by Michael Apted (on 42 UP) Photo Gallery for each film Michael Apted Biography Review CRITIC'S PICK! Remarkable, poignant, fascinating. An analogous project in print or even still photographs wouldn't be as powerful, because what gives the "Up" series its punch is not so much its longevity or the human spectacle it offers, but that these are moving images of touchingly vibrant lives at certain moments in time and space. The more you watch, the more the movies transform from mirrors into memory machines, ones that inevitably summon reflections of your own life. --Manohla Dargis, The New York TimesAwe-inducing. Apted has created a series of films as profound as they are straightforward: here is a chronicle of real human souls evolving in real time, a longitudinal study unique to the medium of moving images - and a documentary masterpiece. With each passing calendar leap, the experience of watching has only become more soul-stirring. Grade: A. --Lisa Schwarzbaum, Entertainment WeeklyTo see '56 Up' is to be reunited with an old friend. Make that 13 old friends, together again for a documentary project the likes of which the world has never seen...a matchless portrait of our time. A singular film...such a privilege to be able to watch Apted's project as it continues to unfold. --Kenneth Turan, Los Angeles Times