The Up Series

A friend of mine brought to my attention this fascinating documentary series about the lives of 14 British citizens as they have evolved over the past 54 years.  The series started in 1964, when the kids were 7 years old.  And there have been regular updates every seven years.  The last completed set was when they were all 49 years old, which was about 6 years ago.  This year, filming for "56 Up" should be underway, completed, and released.  The people who are the subjects of this documentary series came from very different socioeconomic and class backgrounds; and to see their lives evolve over all these years is just captivating. I'm sure there are lots of folks who would criticize the films for a variety of reasons; but I found them quite revealing, useful, and respectfully done.

Every film up to "49 Up" can be live-streamed through Netflix.  I've managed to get through all of the films in the series and I thoroughly enjoyed them. Check it out for yourselves and see if you also enjoy it.

Here's the Wikipedia entry on the series for some background.  But be forewarned that there are some spoilers in this wikipedia entry.