In a previous post I mentioned other subjects I considered including in A Life’s Work. One of them was Michael Apted, the director of the Up films. The reasons I gave in that post for not pursuing him were I thought it might be too meta and that his subjects might not like a second film crew in their faces.
Since 56 Up is making its way to theaters in the U.S., and since Filmmaker Magazine published a couple of Up-related things I wrote (The Up Films: The Speed of Life and Five Questions for Michael Apted ), I thought it might be a good time to elaborate.
Meta
I like very few films about filmmaking. 8 1/2, Night for Day, Living in Oblivion, that’s kind of about it. It seems like most films about filmmaking are really inside jokes and aren’t saying anything about anything (there are exceptions). And the notion of “insider” really annoys me. So, I didn’t want to contribute to that. And even though I would not have focused on the meta business, I would have to spend a ton of time thinking about it, and I didn’t want to do that. Meta gives me a headache.
Two Film Crews Too Many!
I would need to shoot Apted at work, that means him shooting and editing an Up film. One giant challenge would be the rights issues, but for the heck of it, let’s just put that aside. The subjects in the Up films often express how much they dislike being in front of Apted’s camera. Imagine how they’d respond if they were in front of two directors’ cameras? Well, it just wouldn’t happen.
Respect
I have too much respect for these films and wouldn’t dream of compromising one. Not that I could imagine Apted letting me be in that position in the first place. I know if I were him, I wouldn’t. But judging from my interaction with him, I suspect he would have graciously rejected my overture and wished me good luck with A Life’s Work.