Boris Johnson comes to the screen with Kenneth Branagh

In recent years he has had such a strong presence in the news that, regardless of where we live, he has become an immediately recognizable face. So the challenge Kenneth Branagh faced in playing former British Prime Minister Boris Johnson was simply immense, not least because This England the miniseries that Movistar Plus+ premieres tomorrow, Monday, was the great bet of the British network Sky.

Predominantly aimed at local audiences, the project, signed by the prestigious filmmaker Michael Winterbottom, recreates the first stage of the tumultuous Johnson government, while at the same time describing with absolute precision the development of the covid epidemic from the first cases detected in wuhan. Owner of a long and successful career as a film director, Winterbottom, who was also the co-writer, started on television and among his best-known titles on the big screen are Welcome to Sarajevo Y an invincible heart .

The series also accurately describes the development of the covid epidemic from its first cases

And while the performances of Ophelia Lovibond, who plays Carrie Symonds, Johnson’s new wife, Simon Paisley Day as chief adviser Dominic Cummings, Andrew Buchan as former health minister Matt Hancock and James Carrigan as Isaac Levido, the Conservative politician’s strategist, as they are all well-known figures to the English audience, those who watch the series from outside of Great Britain will only have to enjoy the work of Branagh, who, with the help of impressive makeup and a blond wig manages to become a lookalike of the peculiar prime minister.

A true one-man band, the Northern Ireland native became a sensation on stage and film at a very young age with his adaptation of Henry V, for which in 1990 he received Oscar nominations for best actor and best director. Since then, Branagh had an affair with the golden statuette that after three other nominations, in categories as diverse as short film, adapted screenplay and supporting actor, finally left him a win with Belfasthis most personal film, for which he won the gold statuette for best original screenplay in March, as well as nominations in the director and film categories.

Branagh has become one of the best directors of blockbusters

In addition, in recent years Branagh has become one of the best blockbuster directors, having signed Thor , Cinderella and new versions of the works of Agatha Christie Murder on the Orient Express Y death on the nile , in which he also plays Hercule Poirot. He will return to that character in death in venice which he is currently filming and in which he is also the director, which will be released in September of next year.

Though This England divides into equal times what happens at 10 Downing Street and how the teams in charge of health in England were reacting to the development of the pandemic, it is the moments dedicated to Johnson that have the most impact. The series shows us chronologically his arrival in government after the resignation of Theresa May, supported by his staunch defense of Brexit and how he later managed to implement it. But in the same way that he recreates his public image with impeccable precision, Branagh shows us the private life of this journalist turned career politician, particularly the arrival of his sixth child and the difficult relationship he previously had with Marina Wheeler. and Helen Macyntyre.