In 1963 a British television network did a 40 minute documentary looking at the lives of fourteen seven-year-olds. The idea was that kids that age at that time would comprise the work force of the year 2000. They called it a "glimpse into Britain's future." Director Michael Apted (Coal Miner's Daughter, Gorillas in the Mist, HBO's Rome), a young assistant on the project in 1963 has revisited these same people every seven years since, most recently in 2005 when they were all 49-years-old.
Though the subjects themselves don't seem to fully appreciate it, they are involved in something I can best describe as mesmerizing and important. It is surreal to watch their lives on fast forward. You can't help but draw parallels to your own life and reflect on where you came from and where your life is going. Roger Ebert commented that the series "isn't about their lives, it's about life."
Apted is careful not to go over the top. His questions are very simple: Are you happy? What do you hope for for your children? etc.
This is a time capsule of the contemporary human experience. Watch it.
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