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
- 1973
Set in England during WWII, this drama, also known as Soldiers in Skirts, stars Glenda Jackson as Alice, a bitter woman whose husband is captured and held as a Japanese prisoner of war. When a wandering soldier, Barton (Brian Deacon), comes by her farm, she invites him in for tea. They fall in love. In order to remain in the town with Alice and escape the military police who are looking for deserters, Barton disguises himself as a woman. A sergeant (Oliver Reed), who commands a tank unit, comes to town and makes advances toward Barton, whom he thinks is a woman. ~ Michael Betzold, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Glenda Jackson, Oliver Reed, (more)
- 1970
Produced for British television in 1970, Seven Plus Seven was the first of several follow-ups to the highly acclaimed 1963 TV documentary Seven Up. Director Michael Apted, who had been a production assistant and researcher on the 1963 film, took it upon himself to "update" the lives of the 14 British schoolchildren, who, at age seven, had been interviewed in the earlier production. Now having reached the age of 14, the kids -- drawn from every strata of the British social class structure -- provided fascinating, and, at times, poignant insights as to how their dreams and ambitions had been altered (or in some cases strengthened) during the intervening seven years. Especially fascinating is the story of middle-class child Tony, who, at seven, had bluntly declared his intention to become a jockey, and who, at 14, had taken the first crucial step towards that goal by finding work as a stable boy. Even more compelling is the saga of the woebegone Liverpudlian lad Neil, whose seeming inability to function in a structured society had caused him to abandon his plans to become a tour-bus guide, and to drift into a life of aimlessness and ultimately homelessness. Few could have guessed at this time that Neil's life would intersect with that of another of the film's subjects, the politically ambitious Bruce, ultimately culminating in happiness and fulfillment for them both. Despite his increasingly busy film and TV workload, Michael Apted would continue revisiting the 14 youngsters (at least, those who agreed to continue appearing on camera) at seven-year intervals, resulting in such fascinating documentaries as 21 Up (1977), 28 Up (1983), 35 Up (1991), and 42 Up (1998). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1963
The British documentary Seven Up originated in 1963 as a 31-minute episode of the highly acclaimed Granada Television series World in Action. Acting upon the venerable Jesuit edict "Give me a child until he is seven, and I will give you the man," director Paul Almond and his young team of assistants randomly selected a group "typical" seven-year-old British children from the ranks of the private-school system. In various locations and situations, the filmmakers interviewed the kids about their backgrounds, their present lives, and their hopes and dreams for the future. Of the interviewees -- ten boys (one of them black), four girls -- six were drawn from the financially strapped working class, four from the privileged upper class, and four from what was vaguely defined as British middle class. Not surprisingly, the upper-class youngters are already reading all the "right" newspapers, carefully plotting out their adult careers, and generally behaving in a patronizing manner to their interviewers. Of the working-class youngsters, East Ender Tony seems to have the clearest vision of what he wanted to do with his life; he intends to be a professional jockey, and is eager and willing to work up the ranks in pursuit of that goal. Viewers who tuned in back in 1963 were most affected by the story of middle-class youngsters Nick, Bruce, and especially Neil, a lonely, sickly looking Liverpudlian lad who aspires to be a tour-bus driver. Intended as a one-shot project, Seven Up took on a life of its own when one of Paul Almond's assistants, 22-year-old Michael Apted, thought it would be fascinating to keep tabs on the 14 children and update their stories at seven-year intervals. With this in mind, Apted -- becoming a full-fledged director himself -- rounded up the kids in 1970 for a follow-up TV documentary, Seven Plus Seven. Thus began what amount to a lifelong creative mission for Michael Apted, yielding such fascinating, and, at times, heartrending filmed studies as 21 Up (1977), 28 Up (1984), 35 Up (1991), and 42 Up (1998). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
