“Give me a child until he is seven and I will show you the man.” That statement came from the Jesuit founder Ignatius Loyola, but the idea became the premise of the 7Up series directed by Michael Apted, now 78, who traced 14 British children from the age of seven at seven-year intervals, starting in 1964. As the years rolled by, some dropped out and later rejoined the project, and now we have those children at age 63, looking ahead toward retirement and looking back at their lives. Life has meant marriage, children, divorce, mental illness, cancer (for a Yorkshire lad who became an academic scientist in America), death for one, and bracing doses of honesty in interviews with Apted. Poignant understates its effect.
Originally made for television, where 63Up aired in three parts this year, the series has been called the first example of reality television. Perhaps, but Apted transformed a medium designed for the short attention span, and made 7Up the project of a lifetime. And, with any luck, it’s not over.
Filmography: The World Is Not Enough (1999), Gorillas in the Mist (1988), Coal Miner's Daughter (1980).
קבלו עדכונים על סרטים, אירועים, המלצות והטבות. לנרשמים תוענק הטבת הצטרפות!
