
A long, long time ago, back in the spring of 1914, they were so happy together. There was Vera Brittain, an upper class girl with ideas of her own; and her bright brother Edward; and his group of friends among whom Roland Leighton, wonderful, handsome, sensitive Roland Vera had fallen for... Always having great times together talking, laughing, exchanging ideas, walking, eating, swimming together; all of them envisioning the glittering future they deserved: Vera, despite her ... (Full plot summary below)
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A long, long time ago, back in the spring of 1914, they were so happy together. There was Vera Brittain, an upper class girl with ideas of her own; and her bright brother Edward; and his group of friends among whom Roland Leighton, wonderful, handsome, sensitive Roland Vera had fallen for... Always having great times together talking, laughing, exchanging ideas, walking, eating, swimming together; all of them envisioning the glittering future they deserved: Vera, despite her father's opposition, would study at Oxford, marry Roland and be a famous writer; Roland, as for him, would be acclaimed as a great poet while Edward and his friends would each become a prominent figure in his respective field... But then came that fateful day on 4 August 1914 when Britain declared war on Germany. All those beautiful dreams were to be shattered one after the other. All except one: Vera wound up becoming a writer... A writer but a pacifist as well.
Leave your thoughts about Testament of Youth.
| Los Angeles TimesKenneth TuranUnapologetically emotional and impeccably made in the classic manner, it tells the kind of potent, many-sided story whose unforeseen complexities can come only courtesy of a life that lived them all. |
| Tolucan TimesTony MedleyAlicia Vikander is not only drop-dead gorgeous, she is as good an actress as I've ever seen, worth the price of admission alone. Almost hopelessly romantic, there was not one slow moment in this film. On a scale of 10, I'd like to give this an 11. |
| FILMINK (Australia)Jarrod WalkerTestament Of Youth is hampered by a failure to effectively convey exactly what made it such an important work for the post-war generation. |
| New York ObserverRex ReedHandsomely mounted, skillfully acted, exquisitely photographed and genuinely touching, Testament of Youth is one of those rare film experiences that is just about perfect. |
| Sydney Morning HeraldPaul ByrnesIf grief is the proper subject of any film about that war, then Testament of Youth is a masterful look into that grief. |
| Wall Street JournalJoe MorgensternThanks to this new film, though, any questions about her potential have been dispelled. Alicia Vikander has fully and memorably arrived, a luminous presence with a gift for tenderness, an instinct for understatement and formidable reserves of passion—she not only rises to the challenge of Vera’s climactic speech, but elevates the pacifist rhetoric into furious poetry. |
| The Hollywood ReporterLeslie FelperinStriking an elegantly sustained balance between intimacy and historical scope, director James Kent's WWI-set epic Testament of Youth encompasses nearly all of the virtues of classical British period drama and nearly none of the vices. |
| VarietyGuy LodgeDeftly balancing restrained sentimentalism with tough-minded human tragedy, this impressive, unashamedly classical feature debut by TV helmer James Kent has the populist heft one expects from producer David Heyman, while preserving the solemn intimacy of Brittain’s account of lives and loves severed by the conflict. |
| The New York TimesStephen HoldenTestament of Youth, James Kent’s stately screen adaptation of the British author Vera Brittain’s 1933 World War I memoir, evokes the march of history with a balance and restraint exhibited by few movies with such grand ambitions. |
| ZEALnycThelma AdamsLithe and serious Alicia Vikander stars in the gossamer-and-gritty, female-driven WW1 period drama. Adding in "Game of Thrones" Kit Harrington gives this PBS-style drama added John Snow oomph. |