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Have you seen the Up series? The groundbreaking British documentary series, directed by Michael Apted, has followed the lives of 10 boys and four girls from different socio-economic backgrounds, starting when they were age seven. Each film begins with the slightly ominous saying “Give me a child until he is seven and I will give you the man.”
The series comprises nine films so far, released every seven years. The first one shows bright-eyed, wriggly seven-year-olds; the second, lanky teens; by the third, a few had become smoking, jaded 21-year-olds; and so on.
Suzy at ages 7 and 21.
“I left school when I was 16 and went to Paris,” says Suzanne Dewey at age 21. “And I’m very very cynical about [marriage]”).
Over the years, you watch the group grow up, go to college, get married, start careers, have kids, take vacations, move countries, get divorced, lose loved ones; a few participants have died. Above is the trailer for 63 Up.
Last night, I saw that the final film — 70 Up — will be released tomorrow. (Since Michael Apted died in 2021, this installment was directed by Asif Kapadia.) Watching the series can be really emotional — you see sweet little boys grow up to suffer from mental illness; or giggly girls end up in stifling marriages. But you also see them come out the other side, and if there is a connecting thread among the group, it’s that everyone comes more fully into themselves with age. Most seemed much happier at 56 and 63 than any of the years before, and I found that so bolstering.
Will you be watching? I’m so excited to see the new one this week.
P.S. A great new TV show, and do TV jobs seem real? We asked a doctor, chef, priest, and therapist.
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