Film Review: Ethel & Ernest (2016)

Figure 1 - Ethel & Ernest (2016) - Poster

Ethel & Ernest (2016) is like the cottage pie of animation, it's utterly wholesome and does not profess to be anything more than what it is. A quaint animation about real people in the real world, it does a good job of creating an abundance of detail and interest out of a subject content which is almost alien to a modern day audience which is why it works so well in the current age of technology, there is a scene where Adolescent Raymond Briggs can't seem to get his head around the fact his father thinks he is too dirty to wash in the bathroom, of course, this is a discussion which we as a modern audience are also totally baffled by, but it lends to the flavour of the animation style, like old hand-painted Christmas cards of churches and snowy fields, which is in turn reflected in its characters where it is suggested "The despair and anguish found in Briggs' work" (Kroustallis, 2017). is embedded from the style of the houses to the cars to the doorknobs, life is brought from the haven of their home through character animation and personality.    

Figure 2 - Ethel & Ernest (2016) - Ernest becomes a Milkman

"What stops the film from sinking into mawkish nostalgia is the humour and level of detail." (Macnab, 2016)

Figure 3 - Ethel & Ernest (2016) - Ernest fighting fires in WW2

Ethel & Ernest fits perfectly into theories of modernism during each section of the film, during their younger life in the stages of being newlyweds common themes which relate to modernism such as optimism and a prospect for the future which slowly fades into the modern period where Ethel gets Alzheimers and passes away, which is followed by a soul-crushing scene of Ernest managing in their house alone and passing away as if one can't live without the other which is metaphorical of  ambiguity and pessimism of the post-modern era. "We seem always to be leading up to a big emotional event" (Bradshaw, 2016) which is the deaths at the end of the film, however there seems to be a nagging feeling of time is passing too quickly which could only be described as a great gravity of potential for the characters who spend their lives in a state of bittersweet innocence which creates a strong feeling of anticipation and anxiety.   

Figure 4 - Ethel & Ernest (2016) - Ernest living alone 

Bibliography:

Bradshaw, P. (2016). Ethel & Ernest review – moving adaptation of Raymond Briggs's graphic novel. [online] the Guardian. Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/film/2016/oct/27/ethel-ernest-review-moving-adaptation-of-raymond-briggss-graphic-novel [Accessed 14 Feb. 2019]. 

Macnab, G. (2016). Ethel & Ernest review: Wonderfully evocative. [online] The Independent. Available at: https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/films/reviews/ethel-ernest-film-review-a7381006.html [Accessed 14 Feb. 2019].

Kroustallis, V. (2017). Ethel and Ernest Review: A Love Shelter Below The Rooftops of London. [online] Zippy Frames. Available at: https://www.zippyframes.com/index.php/reviews/ethel-and-ernest-review [Accessed 14 Feb. 2019].

Illustrations:

Figure 1: Ethel & Ernest (2016) - [Film Poster] - Roger Mainwood, Raymond Briggs: British Broadcasting Corporation, British Film Institute, Ffilm Cymru Wales

Figure 2: Ethel & Ernest (2016) - [Film still] - Roger Mainwood, Raymond Briggs: British Broadcasting Corporation, British Film Institute, Ffilm Cymru Wales

Figure 3: Ethel & Ernest (2016) - [Film still] - Roger Mainwood, Raymond Briggs: British Broadcasting Corporation, British Film Institute, Ffilm Cymru Wales

Figure 4: Ethel & Ernest (2016) - [Film still] - Roger Mainwood, Raymond Briggs: British Broadcasting Corporation, British Film Institute, Ffilm Cymru Wales