The Shell Seekers

Although the plot of this film is a bit thin on the ground, this is made up for to a great extent by everything else .......... picture quality, sets, quality of the acting. The film is plastically very beautiful and serves to remind us that Cornwall is indeed one of the most beautiful parts of England especially seen under clear blue skies. When I was about seven years old I spent a glorious holiday there with my parents and never forgot it ! The actors in this film all put in splendid performances and the cameramen have obviously paid particular attention to lightig, the weather, the beauty of the gardens etc. The plot can get annoying at times with this continuous bickering amongst Lansbury's children and I don't really like seeing people fighting over inheritance or inheritance-to-be. I thought that was a speciality in France but the English seem to go in for it too. The film has some sad moments and makes ample use of flashbacks. I'm glad I bought the dvd of this as I will be able to watch it again and again as I probably missed some subtleties first time round. Not an action film by any stretch of the imagination but it will please those who like films about family relations etc. Quintessentially English, the story should definitely please in places like New Zealand, the USA and Australia. Overall, then, highly recommendable !

I read the book, and saw the movie. The book always has more detail, but I love the movie. I've watched it over and over.

This is a very slow paced film about a grandmother (Angela Lansbury) who spends all her time thinking about the past, and beating herself up for how selfish and greedy her children turned out. The writing is stilted and artificial, like little polished speeches rather than dialogue. It feels as if lifted from pop-psychology books. Nothing much actually happens except some soulful hugs and a lot of complaining.

There are scenes involving sea shells which are supposed to be cosmically significant. It reminds me of the kinds of films my friends made as teenagers full of Deep Inner Meaning.

The adult children are like the rude aristocratic brats lifted from an Agatha Christie novel. It has a non-believable too-happy ending.

Angela Lansbury has raised four unhappy children. The people her age blame her for this, as do they. Seeking answers to questions she has not heard, she returns to Cornwall, where she first met their father, now dead, and the man she might have married, Sam Wanamaker.

This was a Hallmark Hall of Fame presentation, and it shows all the, well, hallmarks of that: pretty as a picture camerawork - the Cornwall setting looks like it was painted by Degas - and deep feelings expressed in long, declaratory statements.Miss Lansbury and Wanamaker do fine. A short turn by Michael Gough is fine. Everyone else seems sullen at best, spiteful at worst. Everyone but these three old timers seem to be aggrieved just for the pleasure of it. The conclusions Miss Lansbury comes to are simple and not particularly healing, but her character seems satisfied with them. Well, at least someone is.

I was surprised at the extraordinary quality of the story and the characters that were strongly depicted in this movie. I thoroughly enjoyed the movie and found it to be very moving. Strongly recommend viewing this for a realistic portrayal of family dynamics. James Welch Henderson, Arkansas 3/28/2021.