"Testament Of Youth"

Tonight I watched a very good film, "Testament Of Youth" (2014) starring Alicia Vikander. I found it at Northridge Libe, whilst browsing the dvds. Had never heard of it before, but the premise sounded promising : a story of love and tragedy set against World War One. "Testament.." is a British production, sponsored in part by the BBC, so you know right off the bat that the acting is impeccable. The story plays out a tad slowly, or more than a tad to be honest. This is a 2 hour movie that feels like 3 hours, but it never drags or bores. Very simply, it is an extremely sad story with an element of redeeming heroism, in this case a female heroine well played by actress Vikander. The movie is based on a book of the same name that - unbeknownst to me prior to tonight - has been a very important and famous literary work about the author's experience during The Great War (as it was known in England). Her name was Vera Britanny, and she became a well-known Pacifist after the war's end.

As the movie begins, she is a headstrong young woman who is intent on taking the entrance exams for Oxford University, at a time (1917) when women were rarely accepted there, and were not awarded degrees even if they did gain acceptance. Vera Brittany succeeds in getting into Oxford at the same time as her younger brother and his best friend, who she is in love with. She wants to become a writer, as does her boyfriend. But in November, the War intervenes, and everyone's life plans are dashed.

"Testament Of Youth" is the story of the horror of war from a woman's point of view. Vera Brittany (Vikander) gives up her chance at Oxford to become a war nurse. She feels it is her duty, given that her brother, her fiance and their friends are all fighting. And one by one, she begins to suffer loss after loss after loss. It is a true story and is heartbreaking to watch, though with the slow and deliberate pace of the direction, you have a pretty good idea of what is gonna happen next at every turn. The pacing, and the director's overuse of the "pullback" shot, where the camera retreats from Vikander whenever anything awful is being presaged, and in conjunction with a "sad" musical cue, is what keeps the movie from being tremendous and gives it more of a documentary feel, like "she did this, and then she suffered that, and then she did this". The viewer is always "cued" to what is gonna happen next, but that is a minor complaint.

The deal is this : It's a very British Production. The pace is slow, the production values are great (the English countryside looks like Heaven), the actors nail the "noblesse oblige" values of the period and the story plays out in linear fashion without any trickery. It's not a movie with plot or suspense.

But it will rip your heart out in other ways, simply by the conflicting aspects of beauty, female aspiration, love and tragic loss - needless loss. It's a slow movie that rewards the viewer's patience, but bring your hankies.

That was all the news for today, except for a quickie walk at Aliso this afternoon. I was not able to begin writing my appeal letter just yet, because of work factors, but I am gonna get to it asap, and I guarantee it will be In The Mail by the end of the week.

SB, I hope your day was good. Post if you can and if you want to.  :):)