World War I Seen Through the Eyes of Grieving Woman
By Skip Sheffield
“Testament of Youth” is one magnificent movie. That’s not an
adjective I often use, but “Testament of Youth” is something special. A movie
this grand, this epic, this sweeping and emotionally engaging does not come
along often. The clincher is the story is real; based on the autobiography of
Vera Brittain as adapted by Juliette Towhidi (“Calendar Girls”).
Vera Brittain is played by Alicia Vikander, the gorgeous
Swedish actress who was so haunting as the robot girl in “Ex Machina.”
Vikander is 27, but with her slim, slight figure she is
quite believable as the headstrong teenager she plays as the story begins in
1914 at the outset of World War I. Vera
comes from a wealthy, upper-class British family. Her father (Dominic West) has
bought her an expensive grand piano. When he asks her to play something on it
she plays a few bars then abruptly stops and storms out. Vera doesn’t want to
be “bullied” by performing for her family on command. She is more focused on getting into
Oxford University. Dad is not keen on the idea, but Vera has a way of getting
what she wants.
Director James Kent begins the story Nov. 11, 1918 during
the tumultuous celebration of Armistice Day signaling the end of World War I.
The character we come to know as Vera seems deeply troubled, but we do not know
why. The scene then immediately flashes back to an idyllic summer day in the
countryside four years previous, when Vera and the three boys closest to her
are frolicking by a lake. The boys are her brothers Edward (Taron Egerton) and
Victor (Colin Morgan) and family friend Roland Leighton (Kit Harrington).
Despite vowing she would never be controlled by a man, Vera falls in love with
Roland and they become engaged to be married.
Meanwhile World War I is raging in Europe, and all three
boys volunteer for military service. Vera does her part by dropping out of
Oxford and volunteering as a Red Cross nurse in France.
World War I was a horrific bloodbath, with an estimated 10
million killed, 20 million crippled or severely injured, 9 million children
orphaned and 5 million women widowed. Despite the claim it was going to be “The War to End War,” the lesson was not learned. It still has not been learned.
Vera Brittain went on to become a leading British author,
feminist and pacifist. This is her story, wonderfully conveyed.
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