Another little boy is a winsome loner at 7. At 14, he is a dreamy idealist, at 21 he is defiant but discontented, and at 28 - in the most unforgettable passage in the film - he is an outcast, a drifter who moves around Great Britain from place to place, sometimes living in a shabby house trailer, still a little puzzled by how he seems to have missed the boat, to never have connected with his society.
There is another little boy who dreams of growing up to be a jockey, and who is a stable boy at 14, and does get to be a jockey, briefly, and now drives a cab and finds in his job some of the same personal independence and freedom of movement that he once thought jockeys had. There is a determined young Cockney who is found, years later, happily married and living in Australia and doing well in the building trades. There is a young woman who at 21 was clearly an emotional mess, a vague, defiant, bitter and unhappy person. At 28, married and with a family, she is a happy and self-assured young woman; the transformation is almost unbelievable.
As the film follows its subjects through the first halves of their lives, our thoughts are divided. We are fascinated by the personal progressions we see on the screen. We are distracted by wonderment about the mystery of the human personality. If we can see so clearly how these children become these adults - was it just as obvious in our own cases? Do we, even now, contain within us our own personal destinies for the next seven years? Is change possible? Is the scenario already written? I was intending to write that certain groups would be particularly interested in this movie. Teachers, for example, would hardly be able to see "28 Up" without looking at their students in a different, more curious light. Poets and playwrights would learn from this film. So would psychiatrists. But then I realized that "28 Up" is not a film by or for experts. It is superb journalism, showing us these people passing through stages of their lives in such a way that we are challenged to look at our own lives. It is as thought-provoking as any documentary I've ever seen.
I look forward to the next edition of this film, when its subjects are 35. I have hope for some, fear for others. It is almost scary to realize that this film has given me a fair chance of predicting what lies ahead for these strangers. I almost understand the motives of those who chose to drop out of the experiment.
ncG1vNJzZmivp6x7s7vGnqmempWnwW%2BvzqZmq52mnrK4v45rb2atoGJ%2BeoSV