Ethel & Ernest (2016)

Thanks to them being shown every Christmas on TV,I can't remember an X-mas where I've not seen at least one of the classic adaptations of Raymond Briggs's books. With the films that were shown during the holidays about to be removed,I looked out for anything I missed,and found out about a brand new Briggs adaptation,which led to me going to meet Ethel and Ernest.The plot:Meeting in the 1920's,Lady Maid Ethel falls in love with a milkman called Ernest. Settling down in London,Ethel and Raymond Briggs have a child called Raymond. Whilst going about their daily lives, Ernest hears on the radio that Hitler has gained power in Germany. View on the film:Opening with a live action intro from Briggs,writer/director Roger Mainwood gives the title an incredibly warm,intimate atmosphere,drawn from immaculate animation painted with an expert mix of detailed designs for the house that the couple spend their life in,and light watercolours, emulating the melancholy of a fading photo. Witnessing the couple go from the fears of WWII to the swinging 60's,Mainwood delicately plays the score/background noises to land on each era,from the radio announcement of the UK being at war with Nazi Germany,to the feel-good anthems of the post-war years.Staying close to Briggs's original book,the screenplay by Mainwood gives Ernest & Ethel an exquisite sense of humour,with gentle one liners displaying how relaxed,and loved up they are with each other. Ending on an incredibly heart wrenching moment,Mainwood finds a Poignancy in the earthy daily life of the couple, shining from Ernest having to black out the windows during air raids,to Ernest and Ethel (brilliantly voiced with a rustic grit by Brenda Blethyn and Jim Broadbent ) becoming aware of the passage of time,as they see their only son Raymond leave for art collage,from where he would later pay tribute to his parents:Ethel and Ernest.

I saw this cartoon film advertised in the paper, and I searched for an image of the graphic novel it is based on, I sort of recognised it, I loved the films The Snowman and Father Christmas, so I was looking forward to another Raymond Briggs adaptation. Basically it tells the story of Briggs parents, Ethel (Brenda Blethyn) and Ernest (Jim Broadbent), from their meeting in 1928 until their deaths in 1971. London milkman Ernest courts and marries housemaid Ethel, they have son Raymond in 1934, during the breakout of the Second World War. Raymond must be evacuated to the countryside, Ethel tearfully allows him to leave to live with his aunts in Dorset, while Ernest joins the fire service to tackle to shocking carnage from various bombings and attacks on the city. Eventually hostility ends ans Raymond returns home, Ethel and Ernest are concerned of his choice to enter a grammar school to study art, he goes on to from National Service to art college and a teaching post. Ethel and Ernest meanwhile continue to live their lives together mostly at home, Ernest is easygoing and has an interest modern progress and technology, while Ethel does her duties and concerns, this includes her worrying for adult Raymond (Luke Treadaway) when he marries schizophrenic Jean (Karyn Claydon). Ethel and Ernest listen to the radio and watch television to overhear and watch the most momentous social and political developments of the 20th century. The Briggs family is struck by tragedy when Ethel slips away, developing Alzheimer's, she dies and leaves Ernest to grieve, but then he passes away later the same year, Raymond mourns, but goes on to have a successful career as an author and illustrator. Also starring Pam Ferris as Mrs. Bennett / Aunty Betty, Roger Allam as Middle Aged Doctor, Peter Wight as Detective Sergeant Burnley, Virginia McKenna as Lady of the House, June Brown as Ernest's Step Mother and Simon Day as Alf. Broadbent and Blethyn are well chosen to voice the real- life characters of the story, they are very pleasant people with nice normal lives, it is mostly just them talking about the recent events of the time, and doing household things, there is no real story as such, it just works well as a great look at social interaction and how the world around you can affect you, and it has splendid animation, it is a wonderfully simple and enjoyable animated drama. Very good!

This adaptation is a lovely look at the lives of 2 'average' London folks who happen to be the parents of the author Raymond Briggs who is best known for The Snowman, a Christmas favourite for nearly everyone.The story takes you from the couples marriage to their deaths and on it's way, takes you through the history of England from pre World War II on through to the 1970s. On it's way. the atmospheric animation of the second world war is beautifully and tastefully done, and gives one a real taste of what life was like. Anderson shelters, Morrison shelters, The Blitz, the docklands on fire, Spitfires, Doodle Bugs and more. I'd recommend this film to anyone from 9 to 90 and past.

I had, of course, read the reviews of this film before unintentionally falling upon it by chance on Christmas television.I have long lamented the lack of charm in most of the recent Disney films, for example, indeed the absence of charm in today's society in general, but it is present in this film in abundance. Not only is this film visually captivating but I was frequently moved to tears by the unexpected pathos of this story, which is a microcosm of the experiences of that most extra-ordinary generation who fought and survived the Second World War and who's members, through age and slow disease, are now virtually all departed from this world.This film is sincere, amusing and observant, and like the Snowman, however different in style, will endure forever.