Michael Apted Movies
Receiving his early education at City of London School, Michael Apted went on to study Law at Cambridge University. By the age of 22, however, he was gainfully employed as a director at the BBC, laboring away on the popular soap opera Coronation Street. While working on the documentary series The World in Action, he collaborated with Paul Almond on the 1963 telefilm 7 Up, in which 14 seven-year-olds, drawn from every social level in London, were interviewed concerning their lives, innermost thoughts, and aspirations. Apted followed up with his subjects on his own every seven years, charting their progress and grilling them concerning their hopes for the future, resulting in the subsequent Seven Plus Seven, 21 Up, 28 Up (which incorporated footage from the earlier installments), 35 Up, and 42 Up.While he never completely abandoned the documentary form (certainly not with several TV awards to his credit), Apted has also kept busy with dramatic features, beginning with the bizarre cross-dressing World War II yarn The Triple Echo (1973). His 1974 Stardust, a quasi-documentary of a Beatles-like rock group, gained Apted a following on the midnight-movie circuit. Of a more mainstream nature were his subsequent biopics Coal Miner's Daughter (1980), the story of country singer Loretta Lynn; Gorillas in the Mist (1988), charting the life and violent death of conservationist Dian Fossey; and Thunderheart (1992), the saga of Native American activist Leonard Peltier (a subject also covered in Apted's 1992 documentary Incident at Oglala). His 1994 feature Nell, a distaff variation of François Truffaut's The Wild Child (1970), found acclaimed actress Jodie Foster in the challenging role of a childlike forest dweller forced into society following the death of her protective mother. And while Apted's later work edged closer to the mainstream with such thrillers as Extreme Measures (1996) and the James Bond vehicle The World Is Not Enough (1999), the avid documentarian remained faithful to his roots with 42 Up and Me & Isaac Newton (both also 1999). Carefully balancing his efforts, the tireless director received winning reviews for the wartime thriller Enigma in 2001 shortly before stepping behind the camera for the Jennifer Lopez revenge flick Enough (2002). Apted also served as executive producer of The River Rat (1984) and Bram Stoker's Dracula (1992), and, along with several other directors, played a cameo role in Spies Like Us (1985). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1984
While working on the BBC television documentary series The World in Action in 1963, director Michael Apted, in collaboration with Paul Almond, produced a feature-length study of 14 seven-year-old Britons. Titled 7 Up, the film drew its on-camera personnel from every part of the social strata. Apted and Almond invited the kids to expound extemporaneously upon their feelings, desires, and aspirations. Seven years later, the same 14 people were rounded up for Seven Times Seven, which brought their individual histories up to date. And so it went until 1991, with Apted, now working solo, updating his original 1963 documentary every seven years. In 1984, all existing chapters were bundled together into the British miniseries 28 Up. By far, the best of the updates, as well as the most optimistic, 28 Up was later boiled down to a 113-minute feature film. In both its series and featurized form, 28 Up is a fascinating social document; those who like cushioning themselves against disillusionment, however, are advised to bypass 35 Up (1991), wherein the 14 middle-aged subjects are a lot more fearful about their future than they'd even been before. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1992
In 1963, director Michael Apted and then-partner Paul Almond chronicled the lives of 14 seven-year-olds for British television; they returned to the same group at intervals of seven years for updates, of which this is the fifth. It's possible to watch this film without having seen the other chapters (28 Up and 42 Up are the only other installments in circulation), because Apted offers thumbnail flashbacks with each interview. Several of the original subjects declined to be filmed for 35 Up (the film acknowledges them with reference to their most recent appearance in the series), and several others express ambivalence about participating. Two trios of friends from the original film -- John, Andrew, and Charles, and Jackie, Lynn, and Sue -- are interviewed collectively; the women seem to be still close, but it's not clear if the men are. Most of the subjects are married and raising children (and most have moved from London to the suburbs or the country); there are a few divorces, and one woman has chosen to be a single parent. The film saves its most fascinating figure, Neil, for last. In 28 Up, he was a university dropout, living a nomadic existence on the coast of Scotland. In the present film, he has moved to the Shetland Islands, where he's involved in local theater and taking medications for his psychological illness. ~ Tom Wiener, All Movie Guide
In 1964, England's Granada Television produced a documentary called 7 Up, in which 14 seven-year-old British children from a wide variety of social and economic backgrounds were interviewed about their ideas and opinions on the adult world. In 1971, director Michael Apted tracked down the same youngsters for a follow-up, 7 Plus 7. Since then, Apted has revisited his subjects every seven years in a series of remarkable films that allow us to watch these children grow into adults before our eyes. In the sixth film in the series, we visit eleven of the now middle-aged kids (three have chosen not to participate), as they settle contentedly (for the most part) into mid-life and contend with the growing maturity of their own children and, in some cases, the infirmity and death of their parents. Tony, who once dreamed of being a jockey, now drives a cab, does a bit of television acting, and admits to being unfaithful to his wife. Suzy, who at 21 was bitter and cynical with no intention of having kids, is now a happy mother who works part-time as a bereavement counselor. Neil, who has struggled through years of mental illness, poverty, and homelessness, was elected as a Liberal Democratic representative to the Hackney council in London and seems to have found stability. Paul, who was raised by divorced parents and suffered from poor self-esteem as a child, now has a fine home in Australia and has been happily married for 23 years. And Simon, a West Indian immigrant raised in a children's home, is happy, middle-class, and raising a four-year-old of his own. Ironically, Apted's latest installment in this compelling but low-key ongoing project was set for international release within months of the highest-profile film of his career, the James Bond adventure The World Is Not Enough. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
Filmmaker Michael Apted returns to the director's chair to catch up with the subjects he has been following since the 1963 telefilm 7 Up with this sequel to 1999's 42 Up. In the seventh installment of the long-running documentary series, Apted continues to follow the lives of everyone from aspiring jockey and part-time actor Tony to teacher Bruce and barrister John -- who returns to the series following a self-imposed exile that preceded 42 Up. While many of Apted's subjects seem to have settled into a comfortable existence, sharp-tongued Jackie and once-troubled Neil inject a bit of liveliness into the mix by recalling their colorful pasts and questioning the director's motivations with the Up series. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- 1979
What happened when best-selling mystery novelist Agatha Christie disappeared for 11 days back in 1926? The British Agatha "answers" that question. Vanessa Redgrave is cast as Ms. Christie, who vanished from her home not long after her husband (Timothy Dalton) informed her that he was leaving her. Nearly two weeks later, after being the subject of a nationwide search, Christie showed up none the worse for wear at a health spa in Yorkshire, insisting that she could remember nothing of her experiences during her disappearance. According to scriptwriters Kathleen Tynan and Arthur Hopcraft, Christie was located before her return by American reporter Wally Stanton (an uncomfortable-looking Dustin Hoffman), after enjoying a brief romantic fling with the authoress. The journalist decided to keep his discovery a secret. Another plot wrinkle concerns Christie's plan for revenge against her errant husband -- a scheme with all the earmarks of a Miss Marple or Poirot whodunit. Agatha represented former TV director Michael Apted's matriculation to A-pictures with major stars; he fared better with his subsequent endeavor, Coal Miner's Daughter (1980). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Dustin Hoffman, Vanessa Redgrave, (more)
Michael Apted (Gorillas in the Mist) directed this Walter Mosley script adaptation of Mosley's short story collection, Always Outnumbered, Always Outgunned. Ex-con Socrates Fortlow (Laurence Fishburne) returns to L.A., looks for work, becomes friends with Right Burke (Bill Cobbs), is told he's too old for a construction job, helps youngster Darryl (Daniel Williams), and romances cafe-owner Iula Brown (Natalie Cole). Socrates provides a moral uplift to the neighborhood, while Burke's voiceover narration has a Sunset Boulevard twist. The TV movie premiered March 21, 1998 on HBO. ~ Bhob Stewart, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Laurence Fishburne, Bill Cobbs, (more)
One man's role in the long battle to outlaw slavery in the United Kingdom sets the stage for this historical drama from director Michael Apted. In 1784, 21-year-old William Wilberforce (Ioan Gruffudd) was elected to the British House of Commons, and soon established himself as a politician with a conscience. Several years later, his close friend William Pitt (Benedict Cumberbatch) became prime minister, and together they made a bold plan to introduce a bill banning slavery before the English legislature. Wilberforce was aided by anti-slavery activists Olaudah Equiano (Youssou N'Dour) and Thomas Clarkson (Rufus Sewell); however, pro-slavery hard-liners Lord Tarleton (Ciarán Hinds) and the Duke of Clarence (Toby Jones) spearheaded a hard-fought opposition to the legislation, and despite Wilberforce's best efforts, his bill went down in defeat. In 1797, Wilberforce left politics due to poor health and a battered spirit; staying at the country home of his friends Henry and Marianne Thornton (Nicholas Farrell and Sylvestra Le Touzel), he became acquainted with Barbara Spooner (Romola Garai), a beautiful woman with progressive views. Spooner became deeply infatuated with Wilberforce, and she encouraged him not to give up on his noble goals; with her help, Wilberforce launched a second campaign to persuade England's lawmakers to end the slave trade. Amazing Grace made its North American premiere as the closing-night gala attraction at the 2006 Toronto Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ioan Gruffudd, Romola Garai, (more)
In Blink, a woman regaining her eyesight after a double cornea transplant operation glimpses the killer of her upstairs neighbor and then must fight for her life as the killer stalks her. Emma Brody (Madeline Stowe), a musician in an Irish folk-rock band was blinded as a result of childhood abuse by her mother. Her doctor, Ryan Pierce (Peter Friedman) performs an operation to restore her vision, but soon Emma is suffering from retroactive hallucinations in which she sees things that have happened hours, or even days, before. As she was the only witness to the murder, her credibility soon comes into question, but she is believed by Detective Hallstrom (Aidan Quinn) who has been tracking what he believes to be a serial killer. Hallstrom also believes that Emma may hold the key to the murderer's motives. ~ Linda Rasmussen, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Madeleine Stowe, Aidan Quinn, (more)
- 1996
Boris Grebenshikov, popular folk singer, spoke for his generation in the same way as did his American counterpart, Bob Dylan, to whom the Russian musician has been likened. This documentary tells the story of his life and music, which was banned in his native land. An interview with the singer gives insight into his personal and political beliefs, and musical influences. The film finds him at work in Los Angeles, New York, London, and at home again in the city then called Leningrad. He is accompanied in the musical numbers by Annie Lenox and Dave Stewart. ~ Rose of Sharon Winter, All Movie Guide
Based on Bram Stoker's classic 1897 novel, this film from Francis Ford Coppola and screenwriter James Victor Hart offers a full-blooded portrait of the immortal Transylvanian vampire. The major departure from Stoker is one of motivation as Count Dracula (Gary Oldman) is motivated more by romance than by bloodlust. He punctures the necks as a means of avenging the death of his wife in the 15th century, and when he comes to London, it is specifically to meet heroine Mina Harker (Winona Ryder), the living image of his late wife (Ryder plays a dual role, as do several of her costars). Anthony Hopkins is obsessed vampire hunter Van Helsing, while Keanu Reeves takes on the role of Jonathan Harker, and Tom Waits plays bug-eating Renfield. Bram Stoker's Dracula was the winner of three Academy Awards. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Gary Oldman, Winona Ryder, (more)
A pair of lawyers must balance their professional principles (such as they are) against family loyalties in this courtroom drama. Jedediah Ward (Gene Hackman) is a leftist lawyer who has based his career on helping people avoid being taken for a ride by the rich and powerful; he's pursued principle at the expense of profit, though he has a bad habit of not following up on his clients after their cases are settled. Jed's daughter, Maggie (Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio), has had a bad relationship with her father ever since she discovered that he was cheating on her mother, and while she also has made a career in law, she has taken a very different professional route by working for a high-powered corporate law firm and has adopted a conservative political agenda. Jed is hired to help field a lawsuit against a major auto manufacturer whose station wagons have a dangerous propensity to explode on impact, but while his research indicates he has an all but airtight case against them, the case becomes more complicated for him when he discovers that Maggie is representing the firm he's suing. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Gene Hackman, Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio, (more)
Loretta Lynn was one of the first female superstars in country music and remains a defining presence within the genre; with her strong, clear, hard-country voice and tough, no-nonsense songs about husbands who cheat and wives who weren't about to be pushed around, Lynn introduced a feminist mindset to Nashville years before the phrase "women's liberation" became common currency. Coal Miner's Daughter is a screen adaptation of Lynn's autobiography, starring Sissy Spacek as Loretta Lynn. One of eight children born to Ted Webb (Levon Helm), a coal miner raising a family despite grinding poverty in Butcher's Holler, KY, Loretta married Dolittle "Mooney" Lynn (Tommy Lee Jones) when she was only 13 years old. A mother of four by the time she was 20, Lynn began singing the occasional song at local honky-tonks on weekends, and at 25, she cut (at Mooney's suggestion) a demo tape that earned her a deal with an independent record label. Loretta and Mooney's tireless promotion of the record (including a long road trip through the south in which they stopped at every country radio station they could find) paid off -- Loretta's first single, "Honky Tonk Girl," hit the charts and earned her a spot on the Grand Ole Opry. Stardom called and Loretta never looked back, but success brought with it both joy (a long string of hit records and sold-out concerts and a close friendship with Patsy Cline) and sorrow (a nervous breakdown brought on by overwork and a great deal of stress to a marriage that endured -- but just barely). Sissy Spacek won an Academy award for her vivid, thoroughly natural performance as Loretta (she also did her own singing), and Levon Helm (drummer for the legendary rock group the Band) made an impressive screen debut as her father. Ernest Tubb makes a cameo appearance as himself. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Sissy Spacek, Tommy Lee Jones, (more)
Michael Apted directed and Lawrence Kasdan wrote the screenplay for this diverting romantic comedy -- a film that attempts to recapture the spirit of an old Spencer Tracy-Katharine Hepburn vehicle. A very subdued John Belushi plays a star columnist for the Chicago Sun-Times named Ernie Souchak (but loosely based on columnist Mike Royko), who uses his column as a direct line to report on the dirty dealings at Chicago City Hall. When his political reports on a local corrupt alderman get too hot, Ernie is sent to the Rocky Mountains to do a fluff piece on reclusive ornithologist Nell Porter (Blair Brown). Ernie arrives at her mountain hideaway, but Nell is hostile and orders him to leave. Ernie informs her that his guide won't return for a few weeks and she reluctantly permits him to stay. The two first learn to put up with each other and then their aversion slowly turns into love. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- John Belushi, Blair Brown, (more)
When a small-time businessman (Richard Pryor) needs a loan, he goes to a loan shark and ends up in jail on false pretenses. After feigning madness to get out, he is tossed into the mental ward of a hospital. ~ John Bush, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Richard Pryor, Rachel Ticotin, (more)
The true story of a major breakthrough in intelligence technology created during World War II provides the backdrop for this blend of mystery, romance, and espionage, based on the novel by Robert Harris. Tom Jericho (Dougray Scott) is a gifted mathematician who is working with the British government on the development and maintenance of the Enigma machine, an electronic device that allows Allied intelligence agents to decode scrambled messages sent by Germany military officers. But the emotionally fragile Jericho is buckling under both the pressure of his work and the collapse of his relationship with Claire Romilly (Saffron Burrows), a co-worker with whom he's fallen deeply in love. After suffering a minor breakdown, Jericho is sent on a leave of absence, but when he returns to work, a crisis awaits: it seems the Germans have instituted a new code that the Enigma is not yet able to crack, and Jericho is needed to help unravel Axis communiqués before an important convoy of troops and materiel sets sail. It is also suspected that a German undercover agent has infiltrated the Enigma project, and Wigram (Jeremy Northam) is determined to ferret them out. In the midst of all this, Jericho receives troubling news that Claire has gone missing -- and that a file of German messages waiting to be decoded was found at her home. As Jericho works against the clock to crack the new German code, he forms an initially uneasy alliance with Hester Wallace (Kate Winslet), Claire's roommate and a fellow member of the Enigma project, as they try to discover Claire's whereabouts. Enigma was co-produced by Mick Jagger, who has a keen interest in the history of the real-life Enigma project, and even owns one of the original Enigma decoding machines. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Dougray Scott, Kate Winslet, (more)
A Cinderella story turns into a nightmare when a former waitress' perfect marriage gives way to adultery and physical abuse in this combination of domestic drama and revenge thriller. Motherless young woman Slim (Jennifer Lopez) works in a San Francisco diner with her best friend, Ginny (Juliette Lewis). After almost succumbing to the slick flirtation of an insincere customer (Noah Wyle), she is rescued by another dashing diner named Mitch (Bill Campbell). A few years later, the now happily married couple seem to have it all -- a perfect house, a precocious daughter (Tessa Allen), and a comfortable life. Then, Slim discovers that Mitch is actually a lothario who has been sleeping with other women behind her back. When she protests, he slaps her around and uses daughter Gracie as leverage to keep her in line. Slim enlists the help of her friends to escape with her child, though Mitch attacks and very nearly kills her in the process. Going on the lam, Slim adopts a series of new identities, wigs, and residences to avoid the goons Mitch has sent to retrieve her. Along the way, she receives help from Joe (Dan Futterman), a friend and old flame from college. Ultimately, Mitch and his unexpected allies so terrify Slim that she must turn the tables and transform herself from hunted to hunter. In doing so, she receives some surprise assistance of her own -- from Jupiter (Fred Ward), the rich father who abandoned her mother years ago. Although the soundtrack to Enough features the music of star J. Lo, the title song was written especially for the film by Magnolia tunesmith Aimee Mann. ~ Brian J. Dillard, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jennifer Lopez, Bill Campbell, (more)
Comic leading man Hugh Grant gets serious in this drama about a physician who uncovers a truly disturbing secret. Guy Luthan (Hugh Grant), a British doctor serving a residence in a hospital in New York City, is very puzzled by a patient brought to the emergency room one night. Naked, disoriented, and bearing a hospital bracelet and a fresh surgical scar, the mystery man is suffering from a baffling variety of symptoms, and though he dies not long after he's admitted, Luthan can't get the patient out of his mind. When he asks to see the records on the patient a few days later, he's told they no longer exist, and the more he digs, the more he's convinced that someone knows something they're not telling. Against the advice of his friend Jodie Trammel (Sarah Jessica Parker), a nurse and colleague, and the instructions of his superiors, Luthan keeps digging into this and other strange cases that have come through the hospital lately. Luthan's sleuthing eventually brings him to the door of Dr. Lawrence Myrick (Gene Hackman), a well-known surgeon who is doing research in experimental surgery that could allow patients with severe spinal injuries to walk again. While Myrick's work is done with the most noble of intentions, there turns out to be a sinister undercurrent to his research techniques. Actress Elizabeth Hurley, Grant's offscreen significant other, was co-producer for this picture, the first from their joint production company. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Hugh Grant, Gene Hackman, (more)
- 1984
- PG13
A teenager and his kid brother spar with their mother's shady new boyfriend in this dramatic thriller from veteran British director Michael Apted. When her ex-husband remarries, Wendy (Teri Garr) feels despondent -- until she starts dating handsome, unctuous Sam (Peter Weller), an underemployed salesman with no shortage of big ideas. Excited to finally feel good about herself again, Wendy invites Sam to move in and offers to invest in his get-rich-quick schemes. None of this sits well with her sons, Jake (Christopher Collet) and Brian (Corey Haim), who remain unimpressed with Sam even after he convinces Wendy to buy Jake a motorbike. They're even less jazzed when Sam stops currying favor and turns disciplinarian even while pulling Wendy into his hard-partying lifestyle. Within a few months, Brian's on the verge of expulsion for picking fights at school, and even honor-role student Jake is mouthing off to his teachers. As for Wendy, she's too busy taking beatings and doing cocaine to notice that her family has fallen apart. It isn't until Jake gets wise to the industrial quantities of white powder squirreled away under the floorboards that he comes up with a plan to get Sam out of their lives forever. Although onetime Tiger Beat heartthrob Christopher Collet plays Firstborn's title role, the films' supporting cast is littered with actors whose stars would far eclipse his (Sarah Jessica Parker, Robert Downey Jr.) -- though in some cases only for a little while (Corey Haim). ~ Brian J. Dillard, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Teri Garr, Peter Weller, (more)
Gorillas in the Mist is based on the autobiographical 1983 book by naturalist Dian Fossey. Before the book could be brought before the cameras, Fossey had been mysteriously killed; her death provides a logical, if somewhat ghoulish climax to the film. A Kentucky girl, Fossey (Sigourney Weaver) is inspired by famed anthropologist Louis Leakey (Ian Cuthbertson) to devote her life to the study of primates. Travelling into deepest Africa, Fossey becomes fascinated with the lives and habits of the rare mountain gorillas of the Ugandan wilderness. Studying them at close quarters, Fossey develops a means of communicating with the gorillas, and in so doing becomes obsessed with the beasts' well-being. She is so devoted to "her" mountain that she loses the opportunity for a romance with a National Geographic photographer (Bryan Brown). Appalled by the poaching of the gorillas for their skins, Fossey complains to the Ugandan government, which dismisses her by explaining that poaching is the only means by which some of the Ugandan natives can themselves survive. She refuses to accept this, and becomes a militant animal-rights activist, burning down the poachers' villages and even staging a mock execution of one of the offenders. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Sigourney Weaver, Bryan Brown, (more)
In the dead of a Moscow winter, three bodies are found in Gorky Park. Police Inspector Renko (William Hurt) is unable to identify the corpses, since even their fingerprints have removed. For reasons unknown to him, Renko's investigation is somehow being stymied by his higher-ups. Ferreting out information on his own, Renko makes the acquaintance of Soviet dissident Irina (Joanna Pacula), a friend of one of the victims, and Lee Marvin as Armand Hammer-style American businessman. As in Martin Cruz Smith's novel, the identity of the killer is not as well hidden as the reasons behind the killing. "Glasnost" had not yet taken effect in 1983, thus Gorky Park was filmed in Finland rather than Russia. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- William Hurt, Lee Marvin, (more)
- 1992
- PG
- Add Incident at Oglala: The Leonard Peltier Story to QueueAdd Incident at Oglala: The Leonard Peltier Story to top of Queue
Produced and narrated by Robert Redford, the documentary Incident at Oglala is an examination of the murder case involving Leonard Peltier. Produced and narrated by Robert Redford, the documentary takes place in the Indian reservations of South Dakota near Wounded Knee, where U.S. soldiers massacred the native population (including Sioux Chief Sitting Bull) in 1890. On June 6, 1975, two FBI agents were killed in a village near Oglala, SD, and though many were charged with the crime, only Native American leader Leonard Peltier was convicted of murder. The case involves conflicting evidence that suggests he is an innocent victim. Director Michael Apted dealt with the same subject matter in his narrative film Thunderheart, starring Val Kilmer. ~ Andrea LeVasseur, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Robert Redford
British filmmaker Michael Apted explores the creative process in this 100-minute documentary examining seven very different talents in action: David Bowie recording with his band; pop artist Roy Lichtenstein (1923-97) painting in his studio; Montreal choreographer Edouard Lock discussing modern dance; dancer Louise Lecavalier, a member of Lock's company; Japanese architect Tadao Ando; Seattle glass artist Dale Chihuly; and New Mexico clay sculptor Nora Naranjo-Morse. Ando's voice is dubbed into English. Shown at the 1997 Toronto Film Festival. ~ Bhob Stewart, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Tadao Ando, David Bowie, (more)
- 1992
Hypnotic regression prompts a pair of sisters to recognize that they've been abducted by aliens. ~ Jason Ankeny, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Richard Crenna, Mare Winningham, (more)
