If imitation really IS the sincerest form of flattery then Noel Coward is wallowing in it wherever he may be. Having pioneered the idea of telling a story of real people seen against the backdrop of changing times between the Boer War and 1930 in Cavalcade he refined it to tell the story of the Gibbons family of Clapham 'between' the wars'. taking in the Wembley Exhibition of 1924, the General Strike of 1926, the Abdication in 1936, Chamberlain's Peace In Our Time and the outbreak of World War Two. Against this backdrop the Gibbons', mother, father, their three children, Reg, Vi and Queenie, lived and loved, married, died, ran away from home, returned, all depicted by a master craftsman. Now Raymond Briggs 'borrows' the formula and employs it to tell the simple, yet tremendously affecting story of his own parents, from their meeting, courting, marriage, his own birth, evacuation, return, time in college, marriage and death of his parents. There will, of course, be those with no knowledge of Cavalcade or This Happy Breed who may credit Briggs with inventing this method of storytelling. No matter, Coward would probably not begrudge him his moment in the sun and it is a film choc full of both charm and sentiment, one that can stand multiple viewings.

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.

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.