Yesterday's Children

Looking back to a life which is partly your own and partly shared by people from another time stretches the imagination -- one has to feel for these desperate souls trying to relate, drawing a strong parallel with the struggles we go through in relating to those within our own lifetime; the notion of reincarnation allows us to feel and empathize with souls reaching across time, a wonderful concept whether you can accept the idea scientifically or not. Be brave... jump out of science and let your soul discover the light fantastic! The acting was fine, the pace was perfect, the location scenery was charming, and the characters were positively Shakespearian...the oldest son spoke with his eyes, even though he was very old and his body had almost died, and he made aging feel what it is...powerful, wise, understanding and compassionate, qualities in aggregate which youth can only reach toward.

What an incredible story. This is an excellent TV Movie inspired by a true story.

Two ladies, different times, lifestyles apart, but on the same extraordinary and quite inexplicable wavelength.

This does have some quite harsh and brutal domestic scenes which really make you feel for the main character.

A truly fascinating and very emotional tale. Jane Seymour is terrific and I highly recommend you take a look at this one.

Seen on French TV under the title "Les Ombres du Passé", and now available on DVD in France for under 6$, this is a highly worthwhile purchase ! Picture quality is excellent, and the story itself send shivers down your spine at times and at other moments fills you with orgasmic joy. Acting is first rate and the Irish countryside is beautifully filmed. The final "reunion" of the film filled me with an undescribable sense of joy. The story, though in the domaine of the paranormal is highly plausible, and we follow with pleasure and anticipation Jane Seymour's research of her Irish Family. I would highly recommend the film to anyone the least bit sentimental and who at the same time is fascinated by things para-normal! Excellent !

This is a true story. Living in the middle US with her loving husband (Clancy Brown) and her teenage son (Kyle Howard), Jenny Cole (Jane Seymour) was pregnant with her second child. At the same time, she started having vivid, recurring dreams about a poor, big family living in Ireland about half a century ago. Jenny's memories became more and more intense. She talked about it to her mother, who showed Jenny her drawings about that small town, Malahide when she was a little girl. Jenny also went see a psychologist in hope to find out more about the Irish woman's life which constantly appeared in her dreams. In her memories, the woman, Mary Sutton had four children, one still born baby and soon later another baby girl. As well as her abusive husband. Jenny was determined to track down all the children, so she went to Ireland and her search began. She set out to make the Suttons reunite, after all these decades...

Mary Sutton's life was short misery. She died at the age of 37 due to ill health. Throughout her life she had never been treasured by her husband. Now Jenny believed that she was Mary in her past incarnation and that her mission was to bring Mary's children together, so Mary's last wish could be fulfilled...

The acting, the score are heartbreaking. The tale is simply touching. Now, the question is: Do you believe in reincarnation?

The book dealt with the reincarnation of Mary and how Jenny is compelled by the love and concern for her children felt the strong need to go back to her former family and how she finally brought the scattered family together. The film plays the reincarnation on a low key.This spoils the story and changes the full meaning of the main theme. The film ignores many important facts from the book.The book has a haunting grip on you and establishes many points in reincarnation. I cannot imagine Jenny Cockell allowing the changes that had been made to her story.

The priest plays a important role in the film whereas in the book he does not get involved in Jenny's research after the preliminary info. This does seem strange. The idea of Mary's spirit contacting Jenny does not get much importance in the book. I felt that the whole purpose of the book was lost in the film story. I do commend Jane Seymor on her moving performance.