Two separate people, a man and a woman, find something very stirring about the sea turtles in their tank at the London Zoo. They meet and form an odd, but sympathetic camaraderie as they plan to steal two of the turtles and free them into the ocean.
Acting
Kingsley and Jackson's delicate, unsentimental chemistry
Writing
Russell Hobbs' novel adapted with Harold Pinter's spare dialogue
Cinematography
Gloomy London interiors that feel like emotional prisons
Director
John Irvin
Glenda Jackson
Neaera Duncan
Ben Kingsley
William Snow
Richard Johnson
Mr. Johnson
Michael Gambon
George Fairbairn
Rosemary Leach
Mrs. Inchcliff
Eleanor Bron
Miss Neap
Harriet Walter
Harriet Sims
Jeroen Krabbé
Mr. Sandor
Nigel Hawthorne
Publisher
Michael Aldridge
Mr Meager
Peter Capaldi
Assistant Keeper
Gary Olsen
Lorry Driver
Tony Melody
Garage Attendant
Harold Pinter
Man in Bookshop
Barbara Rosenblat
American Woman
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Screenwriter Harold Pinter and star Glenda Jackson were longtime collaborators and rumored lovers; their real intimacy bleeds into every scene.
The 1985 release flopped commercially but became a cult favorite for capturing Thatcher-era alienation—two middle-class failures finding meaning in absurd activism.
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