MOVIE REVIEW: Testament of Youth

Alicia Vikander and Kit Harington in Testament of Youth

Alicia Vikander and Kit Harington in Testament of Youth

Published Nov 27, 2015

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TESTAMENT OF YOUTH

DIRECTOR: James Kent

CAST: Alicia Vikander, Kit Harington, Taron Egerton, Colin Morgan, Jonathan Bailey, Miranda Richardson

CLASSIFICATION: 1-12 PG

RUNNING TIME: 129 minutes

RATING: 3 stars (out of 5)

Michael O’Sullivan

In Ex Machina, Alicia Vikander displayed a combination of flintiness and femininity as the cyborg Ava, a human-like form of artificial intelligence.

As the almost equally inexperienced protagonist of Testament of Youth, Vera Brittain’s memoir about coming of age during World War I, the Swedish actress taps even greater reservoirs of resolve and vulnerability.

She positively smoulders in the role – in an intense but non-sexual way – capturing both Vera’s innocence and her headstrong will. The performance is a subtle tour de force of feeling and restraint, made all the more remarkable by the whiplash highs and lows of this true but melodramatic tale.

Testament of Youth centres on the 20-something Vera, who puts aside her studies at Oxford after one year when war breaks out.

Working as a field nurse, she becomes the heart and soul of a tightknit group of soldiers who include her younger brother Edward (Egerton); her fiancé Roland (Harington); her not-so-secret admirer Victor (Morgan) and, less prominently, Edward’s friend – and, as some have speculated, possible lover – Geoffrey (Bailey). What this aspiring writer, who went on to become a notable pacifist, learns about love, sacrifice, heartbreak and the ravages of war could – and did – fill a book. Published in 1933, Testament of Youth became an instant hit.

The circumstances of Vera’s education in the school of hard knocks are, on occasion, almost implausibly well – which is to say badly – timed. If this tale were entirely fictional, it would be tough to swallow some of the tragedies that Vera endures, one of which she learns of on her wedding day.

Vikander never goes for the easy emotion, though, choosing instead to play against what conventional melodrama would dictate her reaction should be. This understatedness is always the right choice, and it makes for a far more effective – and affecting – film.

Upon Vera’s arrival at Oxford’s Somerville College, she’s told by one of her teachers (Richardson): “I think you’re keen to stand out.” That statement is equally true of Vikander, who outshines her male co-stars.

Adapted by screenwriter Juliette Towhidi (Calendar Girls) and directed by TV veteran James Kent, Testament of Youth is a celebration of female strength.

The two-hour-plus film, which is essentially one long flashback, ends where it began, on Armistice Day, November 11, 1918. It concludes with the words: “All of us are surrounded by ghosts. Now we must learn how to live with them.”

Testament of Youth memorably charts that lesson, earning its cumulative power with a combination of grace and grit that is, in no small measure, thanks to its bright, burning star. – Washington Post

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