Father to the Man – MICHAEL APTED’S ‘7UP’ SERIES REACHES ITS 56TH YEAR IN NEW DOC

Michael Apted has been following the subjects of his documentary since 1963. Seth Wenig photo
Michael Apted has been following the subjects of his documentary since 1963.
Seth Wenig photo

Michael Apted’s “56 Up” is the latest in a series of documentaries shot for British television that initially set out to talk about class differences in a radically changing, early ’60s Britain. Taking a group of schoolchildren at seven years old — some rich, some poor, some in-between — he interviewed them about their dreams, ideals, and hopes. Since that first film — grainy, black and white, very much post-war Britain — Mr. Apted has returned to the same group every seven years for a follow-up doc, named after their age: “21 Up”, “35 Up” etc. In between these films, Mr. Apted has made a career as a director of Hollywood films both pop corny — “The World Is Not Enough” — and award worthy — “Gorillas in the Mist” and “Nell.” But the “7Up” series will be his lasting monument.

At 72, he’s still checking in with the group, and “56 Up” — which screens at Campbell Hall this Monday and features Q&A with Mr. Apted — finds the cast mostly enjoying their middle years. It’s not as gloomy as one would think.

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DRINK OF THE WEEK: The Pickle Room’s The Pickle-Tini

The Pickle-Tini
The Pickle-Tini

Things change. Nothing stays the same. The poet Shelley said so thusly: “Man’s yesterday may ne’er be like his morrow; / Nought may endure but Mutability.” And we’re OK with that.

Yet sometimes miracles happen. We’re talking about the reopening of Jimmy’s Oriental Gardens after seven years or so of waiting.

Yes, the place has a new name: The Pickle Room. But, hey, owner Bob Lovejoy, proprietor of next door’s Three Pickles deli, has been nursing this dream to reopen his favorite watering hole since former Jimmy’s owner and longtime friend Tommy Chung closed the establishment.

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