Review of Testament of Youth (2015) by Stuart M — 29 May 2015

A really good look at the first World War that doesn't, unlike most such films, sentimentalize or trivialize it. Like the book the film is based on it examines unimaginable loss in a very direct way, and the film is stronger for not allowing it to get overly sappy. Vera's a bit hard-edged and she has to be for it to work. A girl doesn't attend Oxford in 1914 or serve as a nurse tending to dying soldiers unless she's capable of being tough. The film does a very good job of capturing the feel of the time, from the youthful enthusiasm to join in the fight (thankfully not overplayed) to the ridiculously constrictive Edwardian courtship rituals.

This isn't most war films though. There isn't a single scene of fighting and even the trench scenes are kept to a minimum. It is Vera's story after all. The actress playing Vera is excellent and captures the varied facets of her personality very well without them seeming like contradictions. The fact that she's able to range from throwing a fit about being given a piano to passionately but rationally arguing for peace and reconciliation is perfect. Kit Harrington cleans up remarkably well into her love interest, and Taron Egerton proves very good as her brother. The big surprise for me (apart from the fact that Kit has a face under all that hair) was Dominic West, who veers off from his usual hard men to create a decent but frightened father, who in one memorable scene actually breaks down but tries to hide it in typical Edwardian fashion. All the performances are excellent in fact.

I've been on the lookout for good WW1 films for a long time since there are very few, and I really thought we'd be seeing more given that it's the 100th anniversary of the war. But the war just doesn't have the same kind of narrative pull as the goodie vs. baddie conflict of WW2. And all the good ones (except for the always contrary Lawrence of Arabia of course) have the same depressing message of hopelessness and suffering. This one is like that too of course, in fact you could even say that this is based on one of the seminal books for such stories. But of course it does it very well. I'd say this is right up there with Regeneration as one of the best films about the human cost of WW1.