Random Ramblings Of A Movie Lover - Testament Of Youth

Hello All!

So the movie I am going to ramble about tonight is 

Testament of Youth. 

This is a movie that is based off of a World War I memoir by Vera Brittain. Her book is widely known in Europe (so I'm told), and I would have to believe that because everyone I have mentioned it to here has not known what I was talking about. Which is kind of unfortunate because it is a very good memoir, or at least the movie that it is based on is very good. Ha! I don't read much... So whether it is a good rendition of a book to movie, well you will have to ask someone else. This is just a movie ramble. Haha!

Anyways, this movie became known to me because I follow one of the actors who is in it. And that actor would be Colin Morgan. I've basically been waiting for this movie to come out for about a year now, because the U.S. isn't cool enough to get movies at the same time as Europe so I had to wait an extra 9-10 months... Yeah, it came out in January overseas but only just came to the U.S. maybe like 2 weeks ago or something. I totally was not expecting to see it at the Family Video and just about flipped out when I did. Haha! I was very very excited. 

So, I hadn't done too much digging into who else was in the movie besides Colin Morgan and I was very surprised that there were actually quite a few people who I do enjoy watching!

Here you have the 3 men of the film (from left to right):

Kit Harington as Roland Leighton

Colin Morgan as Victor Richardson

and Taron Egerton as Edward Brittain

Vera Brittain is played by Alicia Vikander 

I think she is a really good actress. I haven't seen her in too much but what I have seen I've liked. (Ex. Anna Karenina and Seventh Son) 

I believe she did a splendid job in this movie! In my opinion, this probably wasn't the easiest role and she passed with flying colors!

And we got a surprise visit from Hayley Atwell! 

I was definitely not expecting to see her. Haha! I love her as Agent Carter :)

This movie starts before World War I. These 4 friends are about to go back to school, their whole lives are ahead of them, they see a wide future, everything looks good. Vera and Roland even develop a serious relationship. Then the war breaks out. All the men join the army and Vera decides that instead of studying she would rather help. She volunteers as a nurse and deals with some pretty heavy things. (Yes, I know I'm being vague but I don't want to give anything away.) She is at the hospital when Victor is taken there, injured and blinded. She does end up going to France, near the front, where she finds Edward nearly dead but helps bring him back. She eventually gets called home because her mother was not well. She did not go back to the front, the war ended while she was back at the hospital at home. She does go back to school, but has a hard time with it. Even though others may want to forget, she vows to remember everyone and everything that happened. 

Thus, she wrote her memoir.
  
I think what I have taken away from this movie is what you have to do to move on after dealing with difficult situations. How do you go back to the way things were before? Basically, there is no going back. There is only learning to live and accept that these things have happened and to learn from them.

I like that this movie took the perspective of a young woman during the war. It's not something you see too often. I very much enjoyed it. I would recommend it to anyone, but it's probably not everyone's cup of tea. It is a bit heartbreaking, a tear-jerker (I cried like 6 times), but what can you expect from a memoir about WWI. 

So there is my ramble. It has put me in the mood to watch it again, so that's what I'll probably do when I get home. Haha!

Hope you have a wonderful rest of your evening! 

Taylor Kay