SYNOPSICS
Ethel & Ernest (2016) is a English,German,French movie. Roger Mainwood has directed this movie. Jim Broadbent,Brenda Blethyn,Luke Treadaway,Macready Massey are the starring of this movie. It was released in 2016. Ethel & Ernest (2016) is considered one of the best Animation,Drama,History movie in India and around the world.
In 1928 London milk-man Ernest Briggs courts and marries house-maid Ethel, their son Raymond being born in 1934. When World War II breaks out Ethel tearfully allows him to be evacuated to aunts in Dorset whilst Ernest joins the fire service, shocked by the carnage he sees. As hostilities end they celebrate Raymond's return and entry to grammar school and the birth of the welfare state though Ethel is mistrustful of socialism and progress in general. Raymond himself progresses from National Service to art college and a teaching post, worrying his mother by marrying schizophrenic Jean. However father and son console each other as Ethel slips away but before long Raymond is mourning his father too though both Ethel and Ernest will forever be immortalized by Raymond's touching account of their lives.
Ethel & Ernest (2016) Reviews
A sublime revelation in every way
Having grown up, and loving to bits (still do), the stories and animations of 'Father Christmas', 'The Bear' and particularly 'The Snowman' and similarly being blown away by 'When the Wind Blows' (another seemingly personal work and I couldn't help being reminded by that when viewing 'Ethel & Ernest'), 'Ethel & Ernest' is yet another Raymond Briggs masterwork. This 2016 animated adaptation couldn't have been more perfectly adapted and is simply sublime also on its own. Its story structure may be somewhat episodic, but actually in no way does that matter at all in this instance. This is due to how brilliantly made 'Ethel & Ernest' was and my vast emotional connection with it. Easily a highlight of my festive-period film/television watching. Like with 'Father Christmas', 'The Bear', 'The Snowman' and 'When the Wind Blows', the animation from start to finish is stunning, from the level of detail to the meticulousness of the drawing. Not to mention the quaint and atmospheric colours and the gut-wrenching scenes depicting World War II and how people lived during it. The music is never intrusive yet always has a presence when needed. The use of music and songs from each stage of both characters' lives giving a sense of authenticity and effectively taking one back. Furthermore, the script has a perfect balance of gentle yet hilarious humour (the funniest lines often coming from Ethel), genuine pathos such as the genuinely heart-rending ending beautifully done and fascinating history that is either educational, takes one back or both (it is somewhat fun to spot the historical figures and events). It also has darker moments (such as the carnage and terror WWII brought) that are quite harrowing and never trivialised and a beautifully pitched, never heavy-handed but admittedly at some time painful honestly. As can be seen, the range of emotions is very wide. The story is easily the most personal of all Briggs stories and essentially a very affectionate yet compellingly real auto-biographical tribute to his real-life parents. It is a story and tribute that is throughout immensely charming, deeply touching, funny and very honest. It is gripping from start to finish, and with a lot going on but with a gentle pace that allows the events to breathe the hour and a half length feels justified and doesn't feel too long or the content over-stretched. Structurally it may seem episodic and slight, but the content is very much eventful. Ethel and especially Ernest themselves are very likable protagonists in all their life stages, while their chemistry and love for one another is very affectionate but sometimes imperfect, a realistic depiction of marriage. Raymond is also charmingly portrayed. While all the vocal cast do a sterling job, Brenda Blethyn and Jim Broadbent are truly outstanding and give Ethel and Ernest remarkably vivid life, making them compellingly real characters and relatable rather than stock or caricatures. All in all, nothing to fault here, another masterful Raymond Briggs adaptation. 10/10 Bethany Cox
Heartbreaking.
I've just got around to watching this today. As a 50-year-old I could relate to so much of it and relate it to my grandparents and uncles and aunties who were around during this time. Frankly, I found the film utterly heartbreaking. I must have had tears in my eyes pretty solidly for the last 30 minutes of it. It was quite overwhelming in places especially when Raymond views a body in the morgue which was very reminiscent of something that happened to me recently. I was going to write that it was a perfect slice of life but that is not big enough as it really does pretty much cover two entire lives. My boys who are under ten it has to be said were not gripped by it and did fade in and out of watching it but for adults, I can't recommend it highly enough.
A tribute to his parents
Ethel & Ernest is a tribute by author Raymond Briggs to his working class parents. Both meet in 1928, Ethel who is older, is a maid to a wealthy family. Ernest, a milkman who is 5 years her junior waves at her every day and then one day brings her flowers and asks her out. Ernest is a Labour supporter, Ethel believe that the toffs are born to rule and is a Conservative. They get married and Ernest saves enough money to put down a deposit for a house and get a mortgage. Eventually little Raymond arrives but they could not have anymore children. When war breaks out Raymond is sent to the country where he would be away from the bombing raids. After the war, Ernest cheers on the creation of the welfare state but ongoing rationing places a strain. As Raymond gets older, he does his bit in National Service and later goes to art school and insists on having long hair. The film becomes more episodic as we go through the swinging sixties and eventually to their old age. Ernest, ever the optimist, although it dawns on him that as a manual worker, he was always relatively low paid (he finds out that Raymond could earn just as much as him by working one day in art school) but he did manage to buy a house in London and eventually purchased a car. A charming animated film of two people in love and coping with events but also a social history of the twentieth century. Lovely voice work from Brenda Blethyn and Jim Broadbent.
Genius!!!
A utter delight from start to finish. Raymond Briggs ability to turn 'ordinary' people into extraordinary stories is incomparable. The story of his mum and dad living through incredible times, world war 2, particularly. The voices of Broadbent and Blethyn are the highlight, there able to bring Ethel and Ernest to life as us the audience fall in love with these simple but very human characters. Visually as expected it's beautiful yet simplistic in its form and adult Raymond has a very poignant and educated voice which works beautifully alongside his less informed but traditional parents. I could wax lyrically about this all night but do yourself a favor take 90 minutes out of your lives and laugh, cry and wonder how Briggs is once again able to make the simplistic fantastic!
A sublime and moving ode to ordinary people's lives
What a wonderful thing Raymond Briggs has done. This magnificent, sensitive and funny animated film about the lives of his parents Ethel and Ernest is a triumph. It surpasses even his famous THE SNOWMAN (1982) and, I daresay, is what he will truly be remembered for. In this age in which we live at present, when the ordinary people are rising up in revolt against their snotty and arrogant politicians, in what the elites patronisingly call 'populism' (and what is wrong with the populus, then, that it should become a term of derision?), we have here the perfect paean to real life, to real people, to real hopes and to real dreams. With his subtle and loving humour, which pervades the entire film, Briggs brings to life his parents in the most intimate possible manner. He allows us to chuckle at their foibles, without ever once looking down upon their numerous limitations. The story starts in 1928 when his parents meet. Ethel is a lady's maid who waves at the jolly young man who rides past her window every day. Before long, he turns up with flowers and asks her to go to 'the pictures' with him. And soon enough they are married. But time goes by and they do not seem able to have a baby, and Ethel cries and says she is getting too old. But Fate intervenes, and Raymond is born, though the doctor warns Ernest they must not have any more, as 'it was hit and miss' and 'more children means no wife'. So they settle for the one child. We are taken through the whole of the period between 1928 and 1971 as seen through the eyes of Ethel and Ernest. Ernest reads the paper every day eagerly, and is always saying things like: 'Crikey! Hitler's just invaded Russia!' and reacting to world events in the kitchen. Ethel pays little attention and does not much grasp the significance of things. For instance, when told that the Duke and Duchess of Windsor are going to meet with Hitler, her reaction is 'He can't be too bad then.' Raymond does not hesitate to make fun of himself, mocking his own affectations as an art student and his refusal to comb his hair. Every day domesticity is elevated to the status of a mythology in this film, and Alan Bennett's eye for the details of daily life is actually surpassed here, which I would not have thought possible. This film is really a love poem by Raymond Briggs to his parents, whose own lifelong love story is so touchingly revealed to us in all of its minutiae. Rarely can anyone have paid such an intense and devoted tribute to his parents, in any art form. To do so with Briggs's magical drawing talent is so evocative and so moving that we have here what is truly a transcendent work of art. The direction by Roger Mainwood is perfect, and Jim Broadbent's voice for Ernest and Brenda Blethyn's voice for Ethel are beyond perfection. The other voices are also excellent. This film may not have the obvious attraction of snowmen flying through the air, but it soars nevertheless, higher than the air in fact, into a realm of pure love and pure simplicity. Long live real people! And may those who celebrate them always be honoured, as Raymond Briggs deserves to be for many long, long years to come.