Seven Up! (1964)

A group of seven-year-old British children from widely ranging backgrounds are interviewed about a range of subjects.The original intention was that they would be interviewed again in the ... See full summary »

Director:

Paul Almond

Stars:

Douglas Keay, Bruce Balden, Jacqueline Bassett

1 nomination.

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Douglas Keay	...	Self - Narrator (voice)
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Bruce Balden	...	Self (as Bruce)
Jacqueline Bassett	...	Self (as Jackie)
Symon Basterfield	...	Self (as Simon)
Andrew Brackfield	...	Self (as Andrew)
John Brisby	...	Self (as John)
Suzanne Dewey	...	Self (as Suzy)
Charles Furneaux	...	Self (as Charles)
Nicholas Hitchon	...	Self (as Nicholas)
Neil Hughes	...	Self (as Neil)
Lynn Johnson	...	Self (as Lindsay)
Paul Kligerman	...	Self (as Paul)
Michelle Murphy	...	Self (as Michelle)
Susan Sullivan	...	Self (as Susan)
Tony Walker	...	Self (as Tony)

Storyline

A group of seven-year-old British children from widely ranging backgrounds are interviewed about a range of subjects.The original intention was that they would be interviewed again in the year 2000 as adults, but researcher Michael Apted was curious (and so were the viewers) on how they were doing as teenagers and the seven yearly visit to determine how their lives and attitudes have changed was born.

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Plot Keywords:

poorness | 7 year old | east end london | boys' school | playground | 

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Genres:

Documentary | Short | Biography

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Did You Know?

Trivia

The premise of the film was taken from the Jesuit motto "Give me a child until he is seven and I will give you the man."

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Quotes

Douglas Keay - Narrator: Original post credits narration: "If you want to know what happens to these children, watch Granada Television on Tuesday 2nd May in the year 2000."

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Crazy Credits

Voice-over during final credits: "If you want to see what happens to these children, look in at Granada Television on Tuesday, May the second ... in the year 2000."

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Connections

Version of Age 7 in America (1991)

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Soundtracks

What Would I Do
Written by Stanley Alexander
Performed by The Monotones

User Reviews

Is it Just Me, or Does Anyone Else Hear Strains of John Lennon's "Working Class Hero" Faintly in the Background?

......from Pasto,Colombia...Via: L.A. CA., CALI, COLOMBIA...and ORLANDO, FL

Defined as a documentary, this seems, to me at least, closer to a reality TV show in its focus, execution and style. Certainly, for a project conceived and initiated about half a century ago, it was, undoubtedly, way ahead of its time.

The basic premise, in a nutshell, was to select a small group of kids that represented a cross-section of British society in the early 60's. The children were all to be the same age: 7. All of them would be interviewed and filmed answering the same set of questions and participating in the same activities every seven years. This every seven year "snapshot" would continue until the subjects were well into middle age.

At the beginning, the producers state their primary intention as "thusly allowing the viewer to watch the development of a group of children from varied backgrounds and distinct social "classes", and draw their own conclusions"....Is it just me, or does anyone else hear strains of John Lennon's "Working Class Hero" faintly in the background?

All in all, I must admit this UK doc really brings out the latent voyeur in you...(or at least in me, perhaps!) Directed by Michael Apted, what I found to be of most interest, to be brutally honest, were the inherent biases and preconceptions of the interviewers/producers/director as evidenced by both their choice of questions and subtle differences in the handling/presentation of the screen dynamic of the interviews themselves...Or perhaps the inherent biases and preconceptions are really mine?!? My suggestion: Watch Seven Up/Seven Plus Seven and decide for yourself.

9*.....ENJOY/DISFRUTELA!

Details

Country:

UK

Language:

English Latin

Release Date:

5 May 1964 (UK)

Also Known As:

7 Up

Company Credits

Production Co:

Granada Television

Technical Specs

Runtime:

40 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1