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Critic Reviews for 56 Up
All Critics (69) | Top Critics (29) | Fresh (68) | Rotten (1)
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This suffers as well from the fact that the subjects' lives haven't changed all that much since 49 Up (2005); perhaps the series will improve yet as they head into old age.
January 1, 2014 | Full Review… -
The original documentary was intended to illustrate how the country's deeply ingrained class system inscribed itself on the aspirations and inner lives of its young people. But the successive movies have been far less polemical.
January 1, 2014 | Rating: 3/4 | Full Review… -
We're now at 56 Up,, and with each passing calendar leap, the experience of watching has only become more soul-stirring.
January 1, 2014 | Rating: A | Full Review… -
Yes, on some level it's just a seven-year check-in with people maybe half-remembered, if that. Yet the films also serve as a kind of check-in with us, too.
March 28, 2013 | Rating: 4.5/5 | Full Review… -
In 49 Up, many of the series' subjects seemed to be just settling into their bliss; now they're committed to it, and the foreclosed possibilities that come alongside.
February 23, 2013 | Rating: A- | Full Review… -
What ultimately is so compelling about 56 Up is the universality of the experiences. We were all once children. And we all will die. And in between, there is everything else.
February 21, 2013 | Rating: 4/4 | Full Review…
Audience Reviews for 56 Up
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Mar 31, 2019This chapter makes for an always engaging look at middle age, even though there is not so much novelty here since 49 Up, especially as it feels that Apted is not that interested in exploring some issues more deeply (like when he barely questions Tony about his unconscious racism).Carlos M Super Reviewer
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Nov 03, 2013I am so glad I finally got to watch this. I realise most of the participants don't really like being a part if this any more (if they ever did), but I still find it fascinating. I also was left thinking two of the participants had married each other for a moment. That would have been interesting.Angela A Super Reviewer
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Mar 03, 2013Far more than just a movie 56 UP and the Up series stand alone as one of the most sociological important touchstones of our time. Astounding to see the child-like wonderment give way to harsh reality in most of the children. It gives one pause to reflect on their own life and see how far one has come...or not. This is cinematic perfection. (3-3-13 UT)John C Super Reviewer
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Jan 27, 2013As fascinating as it can be for many to see the changes in the participants over the years, it can be just as interesting for cineastes to see how the series evolves over time, namely how it has become increasingly self-aware. For example, one person returns to the series after decades away to promote his band while another uses it to continue to promote Bulgarian charities successfully. And I loved the Buzz Aldrin story, by the way. But what I gained this time around was a profound knowledge of how different Great Britain really is, especially how university education is not necessarily a given over there, unlike here in the States. So, maybe the class system is alive and well in Britain, despite one who protests it was never there in the first place, followed by a scene of a fox hunt. This time, the politics is less about the subtext, becoming front and center with Michael Apted even calling out one of the participants for some of his objectionable comments. This is all in the wake of the Great Recession which drastically alters some lives at an age where people would be ordinarily starting to look forward to retirement, just as London takes center stage in the world for the Summer Olympics in 2012.Walter M Super Reviewer
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