Review of Testament of Youth (2015) by Aliceofx — 08 Jun 2015

Testament of Youth is one of those dramas that manages to rise above the usual mediocrities enough that you can call it good, but not enough that you can say anything more about it. It is by no means a bad film, but there is nothing great about it, nothing that would make it one of the Must See films of the year.

The biggest problem, which I realized this year while watching Wild, is that a 2 hour film is not a good medium for biographies that try to capture an entire person's life. Things move too fast, there is no time for gradual change to happen.

Vikander's Vera appears to be on the same emotional tone through out the film and that is probably my biggest complaint about the film in that it is lacking a contrast about life before and after the War.

But with the negative out I don't want to give the appearance that I did not like the film. It was a steady drama, albeit more on a TV movie level rather than cinema, with characters that felt like real people.

My favourite parts are those at the end where we see Vera overcome by her grief and loss, incapable to see how to go on. The clip shown at the beginning is arguably the best of the film.