63 Up

Watching 63 Up as a stand-alone endeavor may not seem remarkable. In fact, it may even be a little boring. But watching it as part of the larger picture imbues it with immediacy and power.

There is a touching universality to these life stories, which at this point have a lulling near-sameness...

At first glance, 21 Up played as somewhat of a novelty. That was over forty years ago. Today, it stands as one of cinema's greatest achievements, a use of the medium that's at once blatantly logical and profoundly affecting.

This film and its predecessors are a mirror to all.

Kim Horton skillfully weaves together clips from past films - the participants' lives inside a fishbowl literally flashing before our eyes - and both Apted's narration and his gently needling, off-camera interrogations give you all the context you need.

Because of this sense of an approaching end-in a world which, in any case, is tending to see the future in apocalyptic terms-63 Up may be the most revealing episode yet.

With each installment, and each passing seven-year period, I find myself growing more attached to these people, and less prepared to say goodbye.

In the span of a minute, we see a hopeful young boy grow into a disaffected young man, then into a mellowed older man. It's impossible not think of ourselves, our parents and our children, and how quickly life happens to us.

With 63 Up, the quiet wonder of simply executing such a project reigns -- the potentially mundane resonates profoundly when watching a human life arc or veer before your eyes.

There can never be an unimportant chapter in the lives of real human beings. For that reason, the new 63 Up demands watching just as much as any of the previous eight.