Testament Of Youth Review

Director:  James Kent

Writers:  Vera Brittain (autobiography), Juliette Towhidi

Testament of Youth is a new screening in England based on a British woman's recollection of coming of age during World War I. The film included a variety of extremely well presented acting which truly made you believe that you were in that time and going through the same experiences as Vera Brittain (Alicia Vikander) and the other people in the war. My opinion of this genre would be historical due to the film being a historical recollection of her memories and experience that she had to go through as it was based on a true story. The theme in my opinion is war as it shows what the times were like which was well created due to the costumes which were used and the background because it made you believe it and it became more realistic. You understand the lose that many families went through for example Vera lost her fiancé Roland (Kit Harington), brother Edward (Taron Egerton) and there friend Victor (Colin Morgan). The sounds of this film were very well selected as they made the audience become gripped into the times for example the music in the house with the piano was well thought out and soft but as the lighting gets darker due to the war and the realistic effect that it created the music became deeper and harsher. In my opinion i felt that the lighting and sound really worked well together in a way that when the atmosphere was soft and happy the lighting was bright and the music was happy, but when the war began the lighting became dark and soulless just like the music. The best scene was the Mise-en-scene when it showed the cliffs and the sea because it showed how calm it was and the sea wasn't rough because there was nothing wrong it was just at ease but as you see later on when Roland comes home and they are at the cliffs again the sea is rough the sky is dark and the wind is blowing showing how times have changed. The shot sizes throughout the film really connect you to the emotions of each of the actors like when Vera decides to go to germany you see the change she has in her face because when she is in England the times are not as rough or hard but when she gets to Germany it really hits her. The real emotion you see is her determination to help her brother when she finds that she is still alive and only has minutes to survive the camera angles are able to show all these moments well.

Overall i really truly enjoyed this film and the acting made me truly believe in it and made me understand the tragedy that many went through which made me think how lucky we are today.