Reel life: The mesmerizing saga of "56 Up"

CBS NEWSSeptember 16, 2013, 3:31 PM

(CBS News) Imagine what it would be like to have your whole life from age seven onwards be part a long running series of documentaries. As it happens, fourteen middle-aged people in Britain don't have to imagine it at all. How their real lives as they actually lived them came to be captured on reels of film is our Sunday Morning Cover Story, reported by Lee Cowan:

It looks like any other group of kids in the early 1960s, but it wasn't just a dance party. It was a sociological experiment for a British documentary called "Seven Up!"

The idea was to gather 7-year-olds from widely different backgrounds, and look at Britain's class system through their eyes.

At one end of the extreme: Upper-class seven-year-olds, like the trio of John, Andrew and Charles attending a boarding school.

John: "I read the Financial Times."

Andrew: "I read the Observer and the Times."
Charles: "What do you like about it?"
John: "Well, I usually look at the headlines and then read, about them."

At the other end of the spectrum: seven-year-olds who were less privileged, like those growing up in a charity group home.

Interviewer: "What do you think about rich people?"

Symon: "Well, not much."

After it first aired in 1964, the boys and girls -- 14 of them in all -- became mini celebrities for their wit and charm.

Interviewer: "What do you think of girlfriends at your age?"

Andrew: "I've got one, but I don't think much of her!"

The man who talked to them all those years ago was Michael Apted, a 22-year-old researcher on the project.

"It was very funny, the original one, but it was also alarming," Apted told Cowan. "You could see that people's views of the world were totally determined by where they were coming from. And those who had somewhat impoverished backgrounds had a very narrow view of the world, and those who were in power had this grand view, not just of the world, but of their lives."

He was so struck by what they said that he vowed to track the same group down -- every seven years -- ever since. The result: A series that critic Roger Ebert calls one of the best films of all time.

The latest installment, "56 Up," comes to U.S. theaters this month.

Cowan asked, what is it that makes this so compelling?

"Well, 'cause I think people identify with it," Apted replied. "You see 13, 14 stories up there, and there's elements in some of them that hit home on every life. Everybody who watches it can identify with something."

Suzy is one of his favorites. When she was seven, the series pried into her thoughts on boys. Over the years Apted kept asking:

Interviewer: "Tell me, do you have any boyfriends Suzy?"

Suzy at 7: "Um, yes. ... He lives up in Scotland. I think he's 13."
Interviewer: "Have you got any boyfriends, Suzy?"
Suzy at 14: Glares.
Interviewer: "What is your attitude toward marriage?"
Suzy at 21: "I don't know, I haven't given it a lot of thought because I'm very, very cynical about it."
Interviewer: "Now you seem happy, what's happened to you over these last seven years?"
Suzy at 28: "I suppose Rupert."

Now at 56, Suzy is still married to Rupert, with two grown sons and a daughter.

"There are great moments in the film, aren't there, when you cut from one generation to another, and it's night and day," said Apted.

In-between those seven-year intervals, Apted's been busy making other movies -- blockbuster movies. He directed Sissy Spacek in her Academy Award-winning performance in "Coal Miner's Daughter." He directed "Gorillas in the Mist," too - nominated for five Oscars. He even did a James Bond film, "The World Is Not Enough."

But it's these relatively small-budget, seven-year retrospectives that Apted considers his life's work -- and tough work it is.

After all, it's not just weddings and birthdays that he marks. Take Neil, for example.

Neil at 7: "When I grow up, I want to be an astronaut, but if I can't be an astronaut, I think I'll be a coach driver."

By the time Neil was 14 he was planning for college, but by 21 he had dropped out and was working on a construction site.

When Apted found him at 28, Neil was homeless, wandering the English countryside. Apted was sympathetic, but he pressed ahead with sometimes piercing questions.

Interviewer: "Do you worry about your sanity?"

Neil at 28: "Um . . . other people sometimes worry about it. . . . As I said, I can sometimes be found behaving in an erratic fashion."

"It's very tough," Apted told Cowan. "Sometimes I've asked questions, and I've watched the film with an audience and the audience gasps, and I think, oh my God, sometimes I think I may have gone too far."

In the end though, Neil found his footing. By 42, he ran and was elected to his town's council. By 56, he had even become a lay minister in his church.

But having his life's stumbles exposed hasn't been easy for him, or any of the "Up" series participants.

Interviewer: "Do you have a girlfriend?"

Nick at 7: "I don't want to answer that, I don't answer those kinds of questions."

Form the start Niuck was a bit reluctant. At 14 he didn't even look at the camera. By the time Nick was 21, he told Apted on camera he didn't much like the interrogation every seven years: "It's just that the limitations of such things as what the audience requires, and the time, don't allow it to be a real study."

Still, Nick has never backed out. Over the years we've watched his move to America, become a professor at the University of Wisconsin, get married, have a son, get divorced, and get married again.

Apted's sometimes uncomfortable questions never stop.

"I mean, he's not deliberately setting out to be mean to us," Nick told Cowan. "But you know, making good TV is absolutely his top priority."

"Have you told Michael how painful it is?"

"Oh, he knows!" Nick replied.

As he looks back, does he regret doing it? "No, I don't. I mean, it's interesting. I mean, you know, it would be kind of pathetic to opt out of it. Even if it's painful, it's interesting and it's important."

Not all of them dislike the process. From the beginning, little Tony seemed to relish it.

Tony at 7: "I wanna be a jockey when I go up! Yeah, I want to be a jockey when I grow up!"

He was a rough-neck kid from London's East End, who did indeed become a jockey. But by 28 he had traded his horse in for a London cab, which is where we found him.

"I'm very lucky to have that documentation of my life," Tony told us.

Not that he's had an easy go of it. In "42 Up," he admitted -- on camera -- to having an affair.

Tony at 42: "I'm not proud at all to say this, but situations that arise that I've had regretful behavior at various times."

Wife: "You got caught and that was it."

"My wife wasn't very happy in the fact that, you know, it came out," Tony said. "And I was wrong. But my wife and I are now real strong again."

Apted says he'll keep the series going as long as everyone is willing, and healthy. The thought of anyone dying, he says, is too much to bear.

"People say, how will I deal with it? Well, I just don't know. I don't know how I'd deal with it until I have to. Hopefully I won't have to deal with it. Hopefully I'll go first."

His goal: to keep doing it until his film family are in their 80s. Apted will by then be nearly 100.

"I figured out when I do 84, I'll be 99. So that could be a nice swan song, shouldn't it?" he laughed.

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Q1：To what extent does the background affect people's life? or by which means does it affect people's development?

Q2: Have you had any special life experience related to people from different family background? Has it brought any difference to your life?

The following is the related material－－－－－

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UcrTX6x_qpw

From Seven to 56 Up: the story so far

new york times

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/culturepicturegalleries/9259901/From-Seven-to-56-Up-the-story-so-far.html?frame=2216805

Since its first instalment in 1964, the celebrated Up documentary series has traced the fortunes of a group of British children from a variety of backgrounds and different areas of the UK, returning at seven-year intervals to take snapshots of their lives. Directed by Michael Apted the series reaches another landmark this week with the three-part 56 Up, in which all but one of the original 14 participants take part. Ironically, the missing one, Charles Furneaux, went on to become a TV producer. We trace their stories to date. 56 Up is on ITV1, Monday, 9pm

1. Neil Hughes

District councillor

In 1964 he was an enchanting Liverpool boy who wanted to be an astronaut. Tragically, in 28 Up Neil was found homeless and in a bad mental state. Yet he surprised viewers when he reappeared as a Liberal Democrat councillor in Hackney in 42 Up. In a heart-rending twist, Bruce Balden, another Up participant, had helped Neil on his road to recovery.

2. Lynn Johnson

Unemployed librarian

East Ender Lynn wanted to work in Woolworths when she grew up, but went on to become a librarian for 30 years. Unlike her young schoolfriends Jackie and Sue, Lynn went on to grammar school instead of the local comprehensive. During 49 Up she learnt that she’d lost her job. When we meet her in 56 Up, Lynn has new priorities.

3. Paul Kligerman

Retirement home worker

When we first encountered Paul in Seven Up!, he was living in a children’s home. By 21 Up he was settled in Australia with a new girlfriend. They later married and the couple now have two grandchildren. Their daughter Katy is the first of their family to go to university.

4 Peter Davies

Musician

Peter went to the same school in Liverpool as Neil Hughes. The Up series last saw him at 28, when he was an impassioned teacher in Leicester. Vehemently critical of Margaret Thatcher’s education policies, Peter came under fire from the press, and decided to leave the series. He’s set to return in 56 Up as a member of a country and western band.

5. Jackie Bassett

Unemployed

The East Ender was last seen in 49 Up living in a Glasgow council flat with her three sons. Married at 19 and later divorced, Jackie raised her children as a single parent. In 49 Up, she spoke candidly about surviving on benefits and expressed her ambition to go back to school. In 56 Up, we will discover if Jackie was able to continue her education.

6. Symon Basterfield

Forklift truck driver

Of West Indian descent, Symon Basterfield is the only participant from a non-white background. Estranged from his father, he had a difficult start in life, growing up in a children’s home. He elected not to take place in 35 Up because he was going through a divorce. Symon returned for the following series when he spoke about his love of fostering. A father of six, he has been a foster parent to more than 65 children.

7. Andrew Brackfield

Lawyer

First seen attending a Kensington prep school, Andrew was reading the Financial Times at the age of seven. He went on to Cambridge University and later became a lawyer. He is happily married to Jane, his wife of 28 years.

8. Sue Davis

University administrator

Sue first appeared in the series with her East End school friends Lynn and Jackie. In 42 Up Sue was a single mother, and spoke proudly of her two children and job as a university administrator. She is now married and has progressed further in her career. In 56 Up, she will talk about her new hobby, amateur dramatics.

9. Bruce Balden

School teacher

At the age of seven, public schoolboy Bruce Balden said he wanted to be a missionary in Africa, to “teach people who are not civilised to be, more or less, good”. After graduating from Oxford University he taught in Bangladesh, and in 42 Up he was married to a teacher and working in the East End. In 56 Up, we join Bruce and his sons on a camping trip.

10. Tony Walker

Taxi driver

Irresistible East End chancer Tony Walker had high hopes of being a jockey. But when these dreams were dashed he became a taxi driver, doing bit-part acting on the side – he was once an extra in EastEnders. In 35 Up Tony admitted that being in a monogamous relationship was a strain, and by 42 Up he confessed that he’d been cheating on his wife. But she stood by him. They are now grandparents living in Essex.

11. Nick Hitchon

University professor

Raised on a farm in the Yorkshire Dales, Nick’s early education was in a one-room school. He went on to Oxford University and then worked as a nuclear physicist. He has built his career in the US. Following his appearance in 28 Up, viewers remarked that his marriage seemed doomed. His wife subsequently refused to appear in 35 Up and by the next edition they were divorced. In 49 Up, we learned that he had remarried.

12. John Brisby

Charity worker

John was educated at the same prep school as Andrew and Charles. He first appeared singing Waltzing Matilda in Latin. At 14, John was already voicing his social and political views: he would go on to become a barrister. After leaving the series, he returned in 49 Up, claiming he only did the films to give publicity to his charity work. He married the daughter of an ambassador to Bulgaria.