Like documentaries?
How this for an idea: start in
1964, select a group of 14 seven year-old Britons as subjects, all with various
backgrounds and from different working classes, and then re-visit them every
seven years to check up and question each about their lives and beliefs. Sound
interesting? Well, such a documentary
actually exists.
Called the “Up Series”,
director Michael Apted began following 14 British youths in 1964 and in 1970
released part 1 of the “Up Series”, called "7 and Seven", which covers the 14 kids at ages 7 and 14. Thereafter, Apted visits his
subjects every seven years, interviews them to see how and what they are doing in their lives, and then creates a new documentary.
As a result, “21 Up” was released in 1977, “28 Up” in 1984, and so on.
Amazingly, the latest version of this documentary, called “56 Up” was released in 2012 and is now available on Netflix Instant View. Even more remarkable is that 13 of the 14 “kids”, now all 56 years old, are still participating in the documentary (not to mention the 73 year old Apted). The one person no longer taking part dropped out before the “28 Up” episode (for privacy issues) and no updates have been provided about him since.
Unfortunately, none of the earlier versions of the “Up
Series” are currently available on Netflix Instant View, although all of them
have been at some point, which means they will be again sometime in the future. If you’d rather not wait until then and want
to check out “56 Up”, the two-and-a-half hour documentary does an excellent job
of recapping the highlights of each person via clips from
the previous shows. If you enjoy "56 Up" though, I'd recommend watching the rest when they become available on Netflix again.
In summary, this documentary provides a rare opportunity to literally
watch 14 people grow up before your very eyes.
I found it fascinating to observe how life’s circumstances has evolved
each of them from innocent 7 year olds into who they are now at 56 years of age. Check it out!
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