"London Family" is a British hand-drawn animated film based on Raymond Briggs's picture book "Ethel and Ernest", directed by Roger Maywood, co-voiced by Brenda Bryce, Jim Browder Bent and others, telling the story of an ordinary British couple who fell in love from the beginning of 1928 to their deaths in 1971. The film was released at the London Film Festival on October 15, 2016. In 2017, he was nominated for Best Animated Character and Best Animated Screenplay at the 1st European Animated Film Awards. Raymond Briggs is a British master cartoonist and picture book author. For his outstanding contributions to the field of children's books, he has won the Hans Christian Andersen Award, known as the Oscar of the children's book industry. He was also the first illustrator to be inducted into the British Comics Hall of Fame.
First of all, let's talk about the plot of the film, the protagonist is Raymond Briggs's parents, the maid's maid Ethel and the milkman Ernest, the story of the two people originated from love at first sight in 1928, after marriage in 1934, there was a son Raymond, the days were still happy, until the death of the two in 1971. From falling in love to experiencing a hot love, running a marriage together, living a small life, raising children, and finally quietly facing death, it is like a microcosm of life, plain but real. I feel like Briggs is flipping through a family photo album that chronicles every meaningful day a family has had for half a century, and that the mundane life reflects the major historical moments in the context of the times: the gloomy Great Depression, the tensions before World War II, the years of war, the jubilant Victory Day in Europe, the post-war fiscal austerity, and the emergence of new cultural trends in the sixties. These pictures have a strong record of the times, and also make The Ethel and Ernest family more like the epitome of the London commoner family of that era.
The film is also full of London flavor, and the pace of life is slow but also very enjoyable. The rainy weather, the colourful gardens, the flushed cheeks of the people, and the cute London accent are all particularly cute. The protagonist's optimistic personality and vivid and interesting dialogue also make people feel that their life is a kind of bland happiness. Although the story has some running accounts, but this kind of memory killing makes people irresistible, I believe that after watching the film, you will also be poked in the heart and resonate. The idea of the film's transition from the live-action world to the animated world is also clever and interesting, and it is even more touching to see the opening of the film at the end of the film, and the elderly author draws the story of his parents' lives. From the author,We can appreciate that this is not only a depiction of the love of parents and the love of parents for their children, but also a beautiful memory of the elderly son to his parents and the past years.
Secondly, I would like to talk about the philosophical significance of the film. I don't think this film is an overnutrition chicken soup movie, nor does it explore any topics in depth, but it shows people the real philosophy of life, and plain is the truth. Some people can withstand the blandness of life, but they cannot stand the blandness of love. People will always look forward to and yearn for a beautiful love, and some people will like the vigorous love of Qiong Yao opera, just as the song sings, "Let us be accompanied by red dust, live a dashing life, gallop with horses, share the prosperity of the world, sing to the wine, sing the joy in our hearts, vigorously, and grasp the youth." Some people will also like the iron bone tenderness in Jin Yong's martial arts dramas. Some love is gorgeous, some love is poignant, some love, throughout this life, there is no chance to say it, and it will eventually become a masterpiece. There are always people who want their love to be vigorous, but what kind of love is the vigorous in your heart? What kind of people will make each other leave everything behind to exchange?
After experiencing the bittersweet and bittersweet of life, you will understand that any waves must eventually return to peace, plain love is the norm of life, and gentle partners can make people remember for a lifetime and can accompany them to old age until death. There will always be people who say that marriage is the graveyard of love, and marriage is actually the fusion of two families. The ordinary life in marriage is also the happiest, two people, three meals, four seasons, every bit of joint efforts, are preparing surprises for life, which is not full of fun. Everyone wants to have a love that can accompany the old and unchanging heart for a long time, and wants to have a quality and quantity of married life that is both stable and happy. The renderings in literary works will also carry a kind of good hope for people. The road of life is called footprints, and the road that cannot be walked is called longing. Instead of always looking forward to the distant future, it is better to live in the present, live an ordinary life in front of you, live a warm and pure life, and not give up love and freedom. Some people say that love is fluid and not human, but in fact, the most beautiful love is often the most bland. A lifetime of swinging intestines, it is better to accompany you to grow old, companionship is the longest confession of affection.
Finally, I would like to talk a little bit about feelings. For ordinary us, life is from birth, study, work, love, marriage, childbirth, until death. Looking back at people's lives, although they live seriously, they are also as small as dust, but we can also choose to try to spend our lives. The road to growth is fast and fast, and slow is also slow. After work, people run on the subway day and night, staring at their mobile phones every day, and rushing to find things to do when they have a little free time, we seem to have slowed down. In the rush of rhythm, it seems that the relatives, partners, etc. who accompany you will also be ignored. In addition to the busyness of life, we should also pay more attention to the people around us, and don't always regret when looking back and lamenting where the time has gone. In ordinary life, some people will expect and envy a luxurious life, while some people are content with a plain and sweet little life. This kind of bland value is perhaps what we lack the most.
A person's life is so long that it cannot always be smooth sailing. In the trivial, dull days also have to face challenges and tests. Even in the face of the greatest tribulations and accidents, the days will always be full of warmth because of the presence of some people, and the partner is the person who accompanies us, supports each other, and grows together. Through one spring, summer, autumn and winter after another, the scenery will always change and alternate, but the hearts that stay with each other until they are old will still be the same as the beginning. Everyone's life is limited. We have escaped several disasters hand in hand in our lives, and we still have to bow down to death. The end of life, ordinary is not ordinary. After witnessing a period of ups and downs in history, and running a good life bit by bit, it will still inevitably leave. Leave the world, leave the love of this life. When the children and grandchildren are busy, let them be busy, and when we leave, we are free to fly. I think the best love in people's eyes is the gentle companionship of each other's whole life, even when they leave.
A good family atmosphere is also a kind of ear- and eye-catching, and the gentle companionship of parents is also the best education for children. Even in the face of the separation of life, the warmth of the family will continue. Life is as bland as ever, the world is changing from star to star, and everyone is rushing forward in a busy life, selectively remembering some things and selectively forgetting some things. The most important people in life will be remembered. Those who accompany you will also come to the end of their lives in the blink of an eye. We have browsed all the scenery of destiny together, the cloudy pupils and the dried skin bags, which were once like flowers. Looking back on the thousands of moments of life, who will be next to you, slowly getting older, whose body temperature has become colder in the palm of your hand. It turns out that in the most ordinary days, everyone has the most humble dreams. But when will you find out, the most worth cherishing is next to you. May a lover eventually become a family member, and may you attain happiness in the world.