Michael Apted
-
The Godfather Coda: The Death of Michael Corleone and Continental Divide: Jim Hemphill’s Home Viewing Recommendations
From Apocalypse Now Redux to The Cotton Club Encore, Francis Coppola has never been reticent about reworking past directorial efforts, so it was probably inevitable that he would get around to revisiting The Godfather Part III. Although by any normal standard Godfather III was a respectable success – conceptually bold, rich in visual and emotional textures and literary depth, and a financial hit with seven Oscar nominations – the fact that it wasn’t a flat-out masterpiece like its predecessors left the film with a lingering reputation as a disappointment, and Coppola was always unhappy with the manner in which it […]
by Jim Hemphill on Dec 4, 2020 -
The Up Films: The Speed of Life
“If one were to watch all of them, god forbid at one sitting, but over a period of time, how different they’d all be…” Michael Apted on the Up Series, from the director commentary of 42 Up. It begins in grainy black and white. A rambunctious boy runs in front of a brick wall, another walks through the foggy, rainy English countryside, three girls in a playground descend a slide side by side by side toward the camera. “In 1964,” a buttery, avuncular English voice-over begins, “Granada Television brought together a group of seven year olds, from all over the […]
by David Licata on Jan 8, 2013 -
Five Questions with 56 Up Director Michael Apted
The Up Series is a landmark set of documentaries looking at the circumstances of fourteen British citizens as they went about their lives. Initially commissioned as a one-off withSeven Up!, the series’ seed lies in the Jesuit motto of: “Give me the child until he is seven and I will give you the man.” What began as a study of class immobility in the UK has transformed from a political doc to an engrossing study of human nature. Since 1964, director Michael Apted (who began as a researcher on the first entry) has reconvened with the willing participants, with 2012 […]
by David Licata on Jan 3, 2013
