Starring: Alicia Vikander, Kit Harington, Taron Egerton, Colin Morgan
Distributor: Transmission Films
Runtime: 130 mins. Reviewed in Apr 2015
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Despite being sold to audiences as a romance, ‘Testament of Youth’ is better viewed an intimate portrayal of conflict, as real life heroine and suffragette Vera Brittain’s life is deeply impacted by the Great War. Based on Brittain’s bestselling memoir of the same name, a superb cast and rich visuals lift this from the ever-growing stockpile of WWI flicks, though some aspects feel a little too familiar.
The year is 1914, and Vera (Alicia Vikander) and her brother Edward (Taron Egerton) are at home together during his school break. Edward’s school friends Victor (Colin Morgan) and Roland (Kit Harington) come to visit, and amidst the turmoil of a family argument over Vera’s future and education, she and Roland begin a gentle courtship. Fighting the patriarchal stance of her father, Vera wins a spot studying at Oxford, where she will study alongside Edward and Roland hoping to become a writer.
When war breaks out across Europe, Vera watches the young men around her enlist to contribute to what is widely considered will be a swift victory. When the first reports of insurmountable casualties return to Oxford, she abandons her promising studies to enlist as a nurse. The film charts the following four years of her service, which take her all the way to the Front, and the great suffering she will endure to later rise as one of her generation’s foremost voices and a leading pacifist and feminist.
As Vera, Alicia Vikander showcases an impressive range, moving from a cool but bright girl to a hardened yet more vulnerable woman, charting the tragic corrosion of her innocence as it mirrors that of a whole nation. Her eyes convey more in a maintained contact than most monologues, and the light behind them slowly dims as her spirit is tested more and more terribly. Kit Harington is suitably winning as her eventual fiancé Roland, at first dashing and engaging, then hollowed by the war. Taron Egerton continues to showcase his burgeoning talent, bringing a sparkling cheek to the cast as Edward, and Miranda Richardson can be distinguished also for her refreshingly frank and longsuffering academic Miss Lorimer.
The tale itself is almost difficult to believe with its repetition of heartbreak. The horrors of war are seen through a nurse’s eyes, and the equality of all men facing death is clear. Adapted by Juliette Towhidi, it functions also as a meditation on British stoicism, with the repression of emotion beneath a stiff upper lip gaining a stranglehold over those most affected. Being a British war film however, very little presented could be considered new to most audiences. Familiar ground is covered, particularly that shared with more domestic war films such as ‘Atonement’ and ‘Suite Française’, and this familiarity is hard to shake at times.
That said, cinematographer Rob Hardy has crafted some stunning compositions, evenly handling elements of beautiful framing and motion, and making great use of the picturesque British locations. The production design and costuming have the sumptuous details you’d expect from a British period film, and the aforementioned locations are sublime, and took my breath away on occasion.
Director James Kent has ably adapted a pillar of British autobiography, abetted by the entire cast and crew at his disposal. It may not be the first cab of the rank in the filmic annals of war, but you can be sure it’s a fine one which will get you to your destination in style.
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