Review of Testament of Youth (2015) by Kevin A — 01 Jul 2015

Alicia Vikander, fresh from her wonderful work as a robot with artificial intelligence in Ex Machina, here portrays Vera Brittian, a woman who is forced to grow up very quickly at the outset of WW I. Although it's a film about the Great War, not a single shot is fired and no battles shown, just a brief scene or two of soldiers in trenches or walking on a barren battlefield after fighting has long ended.

Vera is head strong, iron willed and a very serious upper middle class young lady in Britain. She's surrounded by a number of young lads, including her brother Edward. After fighting very hard and enduring the rigors of admissions exams, she is accepted to Oxford with dreams of being a writer, a writer good enough to earn a living at it.

.Soon she lets her chilly exterior melt a bit to allow Roland, one of her brother's army bound friends, to catch her eye and a bit of her heart. All the youngs lads beg to and do go off to war saying it will be over in months; some never return (not telling who does or does not return from the trenches in France).

The film deftly explores how war, even for those not in uniform, can destroy all that's of meaning in one's life. Vera leaves Oxford and volunteers to join the Sisters of Mercy and be a nurse to the many many soldiers returning with and without their limbs.

Vera endures extreme loss yet holds her head high, returns to Oxford but answers a new and different calling. The film is based on her memoir that was a best seller in the early 20th century. This film does Vera Brittian proud.

Top notch acting all around, great scenery of the English countryside and the art direction and period re-creation for time, place, costumes and set decoration are nomination worthy.