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The movie is an intimate and affectionate depiction of the life and times of two ordinary Londoners living against the background of immense social change in the mid 20th Century.
Something about the familiarity of these voices, and their inescapable Mike Leigh-ishness in this setting, turns out to be exactly what the roles need.
Brought delightfully to life by the ever- incredible Brenda Blethyn and Jim Broadbent, Ethel & Ernest is a poignant and delicate tribute to Raymond's parents and times past.
The animation style is appealing and unthreatening, but the film lacks the beguiling magic of The Snowman or the thematic potency of When the Wind Blows.
Briggs's humanism and pacifism are the baselines here, and both the narrative and visuals keep finding ways to illustrate the uncertainties of wartime.
Ethel & Ernest is the kind of contemplative grown-up animation that the Japanese have been making for decades but the British have never fully embraced. That's our loss because the format can make for deceptively powerful filmmaking.
At times the movie threatens to melt into a pool of bulldog nostalgia, but it's rescued by a wealth of authentic social detail, especially as the young couple keep a stiff upper lip during World War II.