Documentary Movie Reviews

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21 Up (1977)

Rate: 3
Viewed: 6/14

6/14: 21 Up is more of the same from 7 Plus Seven: repeated footage, mundane interviews, and dearth of profound insights.

Among the interviewees, Bruce Balden comes across as the most bizarre and awkward. When Symon was asked for his strengths and weaknesses, I wish he would say point-blank, "Well, I am dumb."

Meanwhile, I suspect several others having a drug problem which may be revealed in later installments...if they ever do open up. Also, because a great many seem to suffer from poor diets, their skin appearance and hair are ghastly and/or have lost the luster.

A criticism I have with the entire Up series is I only get to see a snapshot of the interviewees' frame of mind at that particular time, but there's zero explanation of why or how they've become who they are after seven years. If they can explain themselves, then it'll be easy for me to understand.

Another is I, just like the last time, have no clue what it is the hell they're talking about. The three preppy boys are full of themselves by riding on the coattails of conceit. Listening to them, their vocabulary range is limited which is littered with "sort of," "quite," "really," and "anyway."

Finally, notice how each installment ends the same way: "Give me a child until he is seven and I will give you the man. This has been a glimpse of Britain's future." I'll like to remedy it to "Give me a happy child until he is seven and I will give you the depressed man. This has been a glimpse of Britain's bleak future."

All in all, I think the aforementioned problems have a lot to do with living in England where it rains frequently and everybody is taxed heavily to cover the royal family's lavish lifestyle.

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