SNEAK PREVIEW: Testament Of Youth (2014, Dir. James Kent, UK) (Cert: 12a/TBC) *** Starring: Alicia Vikander, Kit Harrington, Taron Egerton Being from a prosperous family at the beginning of the 20th century, Vera Brittain (Vikander) wants to make a name for herself and use her smarts to study at Cambridge. Despite some objections, she gets her wish and her smarts are cherished by romantic family friend, Roland (Harrington). However, the arrival of war in 1914, separates Vera from Roland as well as her brother Edward (Egerton) and she decides to rule her own destiny all the more. There can be little doubt that Vera Brittain is a fascinating enough character to base a film around. The 20th century political activist was certainly shaped by the experiences of her life in a very large way and we see a good portion of them shown here in Testament Of Youth, a portrayal of Brittain’s twenties in the midst of World War I. Being the character that she is, and her backstory a clear iron will is what’s required in the performance and Alicia Vikander ably supplies it with an often stirring sense of determination and resolve. I will be the first to admit however that I have a particularly tough time with costume dramas. Their often all-too-mannered and melodramatic set-ups and executions just don’t seem to grab me, with rare exceptions. I must admit that Testament Of Youth scores above average for me on a subjective level, since the subject matter and the setting for the film certainly provide an extra bit of punch to the proceedings, but it never quite loses those staid trapping entirely. I already mentioned Alicia Vikander’s great performance but that’s rather overlooking Kit Harrington’s portrayal of a nice young man whose innocence is ravaged by war and his emotions torn. It’s a tall order for an actor and Harrington clearly puts the effort in. Some of the smaller parts are also worth noting with Miranda Richardson being characteristically as Vera’s no-nonsense college professor with a hidden heart of gold, Joanna Scanlan provides comic relief as Vera’s long-suffering chaperone (much like her turn as Catherine Dickens in The Invisible Woman, Scanlan seems made for these kinds of films) but I have problems with two of the starriest names in the cast, Emily Watson and Dominic West as Vera’s parents. Both are fine actors, but Watson’s given a rather flat role to play and one she could probably do it in her sleep whilst West occasionally lurches into over-acting given the nature of the scenes he has to play. I feel more screen-time for both actors could have alleviated both of those problems. The way the film deals with the war first-hand is perhaps its strongest asset. What we see as an audience is mostly behind the lines in the hospitals and nursing stations that provide a truly horrific vision of the wartime experience (the sheer destruction is actually thrown into the film effectively early on as Vera’s surveys a list of war casualties in the newspaper. The names are all in a small print list that seems to run on for several pages). There are glimpses of life in the trenches and authentic-looking it is as well, but the monstrosity beyond is shown in an even fiercer light perhaps none more so in the medical facilities afforded to captured and wounded German soldiers who are treated with contempt and inhumanity. Early on in the film, Harrington’s Roland mentions Vera’s passions running just under the surface and I think that’s true of this film. It’s very handsomely put together with some brilliant designs and visuals whilst the subject matter alone provides power but is let down by the occasional need it seems to have to remain elegant and genteel. Perhaps I’m being guided a little bit too much by my own prejudices, but I do like this film. It’s just a shame to me that isn’t just that little bit more daring. Testament Of Youth will have a UK-wide release on the 16th of January and an US release at some point in 2015.
Posted on: Tue, 13 Jan 2015 23:15:05 +0000
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