Monday, June 15, 2015

28 Up (1984)


IMDb plot summary: Director Michael Apted revisits the same group of British-born adults after a 7 year wait. The subjects are interviewed as to the changes that have occurred in their lives during the last seven years.
Directed by Michael Apted.

This is easily my favorite of the bunch so far, partly because it's the last one that I suspect will be a truly dramatic shift in character or circumstances for many of these people. At 28, a lot of them have settled into *something*, whether it's a happy life where they can be content and feel fulfilled or a life of deliberately vague wandering to avoid suburbia. While I'm sure there will be twists and turns and developments in future films, they are likely to be less surprising and sudden than several of these were.

It's also interesting to me as I am now 28 myself, so I can't help but compare myself and where I am in my life to where all of these people are and how they view life. Some of them seem so beaten down at 28, while others seem like they're just beginning their journey, and I'm fascinated by the range of possibilities.

Parts of this movie are lovely and inspiring. Others are incredibly depressing. But they're all fascinating, especially when compared against the children, teenagers, and young adults that they were.

4 stars.

How it entered my Flickchart:
28 Up > Last Holiday
28 Up < Eat Pray Love
28 Up > Spider-Man 2
28 Up > The Descendants
28 Up < Mister Roberts
28 Up > A Midsummer Night's Dream (1999)
28 Up > White Heat
28 Up < Ordet
28 Up > Say Anything...
28 Up > A Few Good Men
28 Up > Gentleman's Agreement
Final spot: #675 out of 2365.

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