Damon Smith reviews the film based on the First World War memoir by Vera Brittain

Published in 1933, Testament Of Youth was the first instalment of memoirs by feminist writer and pacifist Vera Mary Brittain covering the years 1900-1925.

In those pages, Brittain relived her harrowing personal experiences of the First World War in the wider context of the shifting political landscape, and gave a voice to other women, who had watched loved ones head off to fight and never return.

In 1979, the BBC produced a six-part mini-series based on the book, casting a fresh-faced Cheryl Campbell as the fiercely independent heroine.

It’s fitting that BBC Films should be one of the creative forces behind this handsomely mounted big screen adaptation.

Testament Of Youth is almost the right film in the right place at the right time, coinciding with centenary commemorations of the First World War, which included last year’s installation of 888,246 ceramic poppies at the Tower Of London.

James Kent’s film is suitably respectful and sombre, and Swedish actress Alicia Vikander is a revelation in her first leading role in an English-language production, capturing the spirit, defiance and brittleness of a young woman who holds firm to her convictions when women were preferably seen but not heard.

Spirited and resourceful, Vera (Vikander) is poised to head to Oxford University to study under waspish Miss Lorimer (Miranda Richardson).

Her brother Edward (Taron Egerton) and his pals Roland (Kit Harington) and Victor (Colin Morgan) intend to enlist but Vera’s parents (Dominic West, Emily Watson) are resistant.

“I know a little more about war than you young lady and it’s never short and it’s never fast,” Mr Brittain tells his daughter sternly when Vera argues her sibling’s case.

They eventually relent and Vera heads to the dreaming spires of Oxford.

Romance blossoms between Vera and Roland, and Aunt Belle (Joanna Scanlan) acts as a chaperone for the young couple on their dates to ensure their conduct doesn’t overstep the bounds of public decency.

Against the advice of her parents, Vera postpones her higher education to volunteer as a nurse and treat soldiers, who have been physically and emotionally scarred by their experiences.

Friendships and family ties are strained as Vera and her loved ones search for glimmers of hope amid the devastation.

Testament Of Youth is a visually arresting portrait of those tumultuous years of blood-stained European history and director Kent demonstrates moments of brio. However, for all its physical splendour and Max Richter’s elegiac orchestral score, the film doesn’t stir the heart, even with Vikander wringing herself emotionally dry as Vera’s dearest friends become casualties of the conflict.

At 130 minutes, the ambitious running time sags noticeably in the middle act, but thankfully regains momentum and composure as Vera’s cosy existence is steadily reduced to rubble.

TESTAMENT OF YOUTH (12A)
Drama/War/Romance.
Alicia Vikander, Kit Harington, Taron Egerton, Colin Morgan, Dominic West, Emily Watson, Anna Chancellor, Joanna Scanlan, Miranda Richardson.
Director: James Kent

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