Genre Guesstimation – 28 Up (1984)

The idea behind this feature (Genre Guesstimation) is for me to watch a bunch of new movies (or ones that I haven’t seen many times) from the chosen monthly GG genre in order to expand my knowledge of movies within that particular genre.

This month’s Genre has been chosen by Quiggy of The Midnite Drive-In and it is Documentary Films.

Please get me your submissions by the 25th of Dec by sending them to docuquiggy@movierob.net

Try to think out of the box!

Let’s see if I felt that this movie would be worthy of being in the company of my others favorite movies in the genre of Documentary Films.…

“If the state didn’t give us any money, it would probably just mean crime and I’m glad I don’t have to steal to keep myself alive. If the money runs out then for a few days there’s nowhere to go and that’s all you can do, I simply have to find the warmest shed I can find. ” – Neil

Number of Times Seen – 1 (19 Dec 2018)

Brief Synopsis – A look at the same group of 14 seven year old children 7 years after the previous update on their lives when they were 28 years old.

My Take on it – This is a film series that I was quite interested in seeing because of the overall premise.

I didn’t know what to expect and feared that this might get boring watching the way that these people grow up over the years but the exact opposite was true, I was so entranced by the lives of these anonymous people.

This is the pivotal chapter in this series and it has numerous factors as to why.

First of all, the change of format truly helps and instead of jumping back and forth between the interviewees due to the thematic question, we are given full interviews with each one on their own (or in groups as it happens) which helps the viewer get a better picture of each subjects personal life journey instead of trying to piece it all together.

This is the first chapter in the series where an interviewee chose not to participate since this is completely voluntary.

Some of those that declined this time, will return in future years but one of them continues to refuse all the way until the last chapter filmed so far.

We once again get to experience some great moments in these peoples lives including marriages, divorces, children, new jobs, new locations and eve death of parents which helps us get to know them as people because we get such a personal connection to them especially since each of them reacts differently to these changes.

We get an added bonus from this chapter onward where some of the spouses choose to also be a part which helps give us even more complete stories of how their lives are progressing.

Bottom Line – This film is the true turning point in the series and makes it even more personal for the viewer than the previous three chapters. Being able to see each segment as a whole instead of jumping back and forth between the people whose lives we are following helps give the viewer a stronger connection. The added bonus of getting reactions from spouses also helps tell the stories much better. The changes in this chapter once again deal with marriage, divorce, kids, new jobs and even death of parents and we get to see how all of these events affect each of them completely differently. Highly Recommended!

MovieRob’s Favorite Trivia – The format varies slightly with this fourth entry. Instead of intercutting from one interview subject to another, Michael Apted devotes each to their own little section in order to be able to fully reveal their story. (From IMDB)

Genre Grandeur Worthy? – Most definitely, this is the turning point in the series where we get to know the subject quite well and that has much to do with the slight change of the format which devotes time to each one seperately instead of dealing with the thematic nature of it all.

Rating – Oscar Worthy (9/10)

If you missed any of the reviews of this series, check them out below:

Seven Up! (1964)

7 Plus Seven (1970)

21 Up (1977)

35 Up (1991)

42 Up (1998)

49 Up (2005)

56 Up (2012)

Roundup of the whole UP series (1964-2012)

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