Yesterday was ‘National Cinema Day’, with cinema tickets costing just £3 per adult, and so I ventured for the first time in quite a while to the cinema to watch ‘Fisherman’s Friends: One And All’, the sequel to a film i greatly enjoyed in 2019.
For me, the film held two irresistible attractions: the beautiful scenery of Cornwall (the singing group are fishermen from Port Isaac, a place I visited for the first time in 2021) and the exquisite acapella singing of these talented men. To have a film wholly dedicated to these two things was like sitting on the beach on a summer’s day with the sun warming my bare feet and the beauty of God’s creation and the harmony of song warming my soul.
The film contains sixteen songs (more than you get on a CD!) and charts the ups and downs of fame, the pain of bereavement, the dawning of love and the vicissitudes of life, and ends with the performance of the group at Glastonbury, of all places (which actually did happen in 2011.) Many film critics have said the film lacks depth, subtlety or plot and is all too predictable. All I can say is we live in a world so staggeringly beautiful, it’s worth the time spent gazing on Cornish seas and towns and that the sea shanties which made the group’s name have the ability to capture life experiences with simple poignancy. For me, the reminder of beauty, love and song are enough to bring a smile to my face and a spring to my step.