Join the Washington DC Sunday Night Film Club this Sunday, Feb 17th at 2:00 for 56 Up at the Landmark E Street Cinema . Look for Laine wearing a green coat in the theatre lobby about 15 minutes before the film. As always, after the film we will descend on a local establishment for dinner/drinks/discussion.
“Give me the child until he is seven and I will give you the man.” Starting in 1964 with Seven UP, the UP series has explored this Jesuit maxim. The original concept was to interview 14 children from diverse backgrounds from all over England, asking them about their lives and their dreams for the future. Every seven years, renowned director Michael Apted, a researcher for Seven UP, has been back to talk to them, examining the progression of their lives. From cab driver Tony to schoolmates Jackie, Lynn and Susan and the heart-breaking Neil, as they turn age 56 more life-changing decisions and surprising developments are revealed. Success and disappointment, marriage and childbirth, poverty and illness–nearly every facet of life is discussed with the group, as they assess whether their lives have ultimately been ruled by circumstance or self-determination. An extraordinary look at the structure of life in the 20th century, the UP series is, according to critic Roger Ebert, “an inspired, almost noble use of the film medium. Apted penetrates to the central mystery of life.”