49 Up - 6

This is the latest film in Michael Apted's Up Series (7 Up, 7 plus Seven, 21 Up, 28 Up, 35 Up, 42 Up), started in 1964 with fourteen 7-year-olds and chronicling their life every seven years. The series stared out as a commentary on social classes in England, but has now morphed into a story of people's choices and lives and how people both stay the same as well as change. Having reached the half century point, these subjects are now parents and some are grandparents, and much more reflective of the value of family. The real value of these films in not in the story that they tell, but rather the reflection that comes when thinking about the progress of one's life. The lives of these people cannot be as simply explained by social class systems, and yet class systems cannot be rejected as having no role in the shaping of their lives. These films are an interesting work, and we'll see how long they can continue as both Apted and the group are getting older.