The resemblance is more than striking, it is staggering... right down to the blond locks that go off in indomitable spikes and the sometimes bewildered air.
The British pay channel Sky unveiled a trailer for
This England
on Wednesday , an account of the management of the covid crisis by the English government.
In this five-episode event miniseries, Kenneth Branagh plays British Prime Minister Boris Johnson.
On the red carpet, the interpreter of Hamlet and Henry V does not have much in common with the tenant of 10 Downing Street.
But with the help of wigs and hairpieces, it is clear that the 61-year-old actor, who won an Oscar last March for his childhood story
Belfast
, plays a confusing twin.
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Read alsoKenneth Branagh: “The
Titanic
was built in Belfast!
It was from there that things started to go wrong."
Signed Michael Winterbottom (
Undefeated Heart
and
24 Hour Party People)
,
This England
looks back on Johnson's tumultuous first months in power: handling Brexit then the outbreak of covid and the conservative's stint in intensive care after contracting the disease .
Sunday Times
political reporter
Tim Shipman also contributed to the script.
Testimonials from senior Downing Street officials
The reporter and the filmmaker have collected the testimonies of experts and senior Downing Street officials, scientists advising the government.
Winterbottom and his co-authors were also able to talk to nursing home workers and hospital staff.
This England
will alternate the point of view of the residents of Downing Street with those of ordinary citizens spread across the four corners of the United Kingdom and having to deal with the upheavals generated by the pandemic and the confinement.
The trailer opens with the jubilant words of a Boris Johnson who has no idea what the year 2020 has in store for him:
“2020 will be a year of prosperity”,
he asserts.
But the following shots unveiling the interior of Downing Street chronicle the escalation of the health crisis:
“500,000 dead is the worst case scenario”
can be heard amid Johnson’s recommendations during his press conferences:
“ wash your hands”, “stay at home”.
Alongside Kenneth Branagh, the viewer will find Ophelia Lovibond who plays the controversial and unpopular companion of Boris Johnson Carrie Symonds.
Seen in
Broadchurch
, Andrew Buchan plays disgraced health minister Matt Hancock, pressured into resigning after being caught by a Westminster surveillance camera in the arms of his mistress, defying government rules on social distancing.
No English broadcast date or French broadcaster has yet been announced.
