Testament Of Youth

http://www.bbc.co.uk/bbcfilms/film/testament_of_youth

I saw Testament Of Youth as part of my FDA accreditation course. It was the second film they'd shown to us, the first being the hilarious vampire comedy What We Do In The Shadows. When the film was announced there were whispers in the auditorium, clearly from fellow bloggers who had heard of the film, or perhaps from people who were familiar with the book by Vera Brittain on which the film is based. I am sad to say that I was ignorant to both, but as a keen film fan of most genres, I was interested to see what this film was about.

I will admit that I might have felt a small pang of disappointment when I realised it was a "war" film, so let me start right away by saying that I was in no way disappointed by the end of the film, and it gave me a whole new perspective on what to expect from a "war" film.

For those as unfamiliar as I was, the story is told from the point of view of young Vera Brittain, who's only want in life is to go to university. She loves books and hates her cooped up home life, and her happiest day is when she wins a scholarship to Oxford. Little does Vera know that the First World War is just around the corner, and with it, her life will change forever.

To say more would be a great disservice to a beautifully crafted film, a wonderfully woven and detailed story and some of the most heartbreaking performances I have seen in a long time. Testament Of Youth pulled me in completely, it compelled me to watch and it made me feel every emotion that brave Vera feels.

At the time, it was the first film I had seen Alicia Vikander in, and despite my misgivings that this unknown young lady could hold my attention for the full span, let alone have me singing her praises afterwards, she did just that. It's a shame that her more widely released film Ex_Machina did not allow her to show her full range of talent as she is honestly tremendous here. As is the 'better known for Game of Thrones' actor Kit Harington. They are ably supported by the always amazing Hayley Atwell, Dominic West, Emily Watson and Miranda Richardson.

After watching (and crying through) Testament Of Youth, I wanted so much to read Vera Brittain's book on which the film was based. I sought it out at my local library and found an absolute monster doorstop of a novel. I mean no disrespect to Ms Brittain when I say that I managed to read about 2 chapters of the book before I gave up with it. The members of my book club will tell you that I do not give up easily, but I found the book completely unreadable. I really do have the utmost respect for Ms Brittain to overcome what she went through in the war and then write it all down for the world to read. But her book was written in a very different language to today's English. In many ways that's a good thing, especially in the day and age of text speak, but it's a case of why use 5 words if you can use 50. Every sentence is written in such a convoluted way that it's hard to decipher what she's really telling us.

I therefore doff my cap to the screenwriter Juliette Towhidi who has done such a fantastic job of converting this mammoth book into not just a watchable movie, but a memorable and beautiful movie. One which I urge all of my readers (yes, all two of you) to see. 9 out of 10.

Viewing Date - 25th October 2014
UK Release Date - 16th January 2015

Cast Overview:
Alicia Vikander ~ Vera Brittain
Kit Harington ~ Roland Leighton
Hayley Attwell ~ Hope
Taron Egerton ~ Edward Brittain
Dominic West ~ Mr Brittain
Emily Watson ~ Mrs Brittain
Miranda Richardson ~ Miss Lorimer
Colin Morgan ~ Victor Richardson
Anna Chancellor ~ Mrs Leighton
Joanna Scanlan ~ Aunt Belle

Director ~ James Kent
Writer ~ Vera Brittain (Book) and Juliette Towhidi

2014 End of Year Review

How fast 2014 flew by that we are now already in 2015. My regular readers will have seen my reviews of the best films to come out of the last few months, but to cap off the year I wanted to do a run down of the movies I've seen in the latter half of the year:

Starting with The Fault In Our Stars ~ 13/07/2014

Based on the tear jerking book of the same name, The Fault In Our Stars grabs hold of your heart from the get-go and doesn't let go until the tears are rolling along with the credits. I was quite sure I wasn't going to like the movie, that it would be far too saccharine, but I too found myself sobbing in the end. I've heard the book is equally good, albeit equally sad. I can't comment on the book but if you like a good cry at a good film, you won't go wrong with this one.

Begin Again ~ 14/07/2014
 
You can always rely on Mark Ruffalo to make what would normally be an average rom-com something so much more. He didn't disappoint with Begin Again. Keira Knightley also delivers the most genuine performance I have seen since her turn in The Duchess. Oh and did I mention the soundtrack? It'll have you humming it's songs for weeks.

Secret Screening Dawn Of The Planet Of The Apes ~15/07/2014

Sequel to the 2011 Rise of the Planet of the Apes, we see how Caesar has lead his fellow apes into the woods and how they have lived in harmony without the interference of man. Then man comes to interfere of course and all hell breaks loose. A strong sequel with good character development, and a definite open ending for there to be a trilogy of ape remakes.

Boyhood ~ 30/07/2014 Full review here.

Guardians Of The Galaxy ~ 31/07/2014 Full review here.

Hector And The Search For Happiness ~ 18/08/2014

Saw this with my northern bestie as a sort of pre-Birthday movie for her. I've loved Mr Pegg since Spaced but I wasn't expecting much from this movie. Just from the trailer I thought this seemed like a typical British comedy (read - not in any way funny), but it was actually really enjoyable, filled with characters that you were interested in and genuinely cared about, and with laughs and tears in equal measure. Definitely one to check out on DVD/Netflix if you missed it at the cinema.

 

Into The Storm ~ 23/08/2014

 

Lucy ~ 26/08/2014

Oh Scarlett. First I drag my friend who really dislikes your movies to see the god awful Under The Skin. Then I convince her to see this. I think you owe her around 8 hours of her life back now. Especially considering the side helping of real life drama that came with our screening of this. Someone in the auditorium fainted and the movie had to be put on hold whilst the staff stood around the person in question rather than leading them out of the cinema. The rest of the film was slightly less dramatic (in both senses), and it all went a bit strange at the end. Do better Ms Johansson. A lot better.

As Above So Below ~ 03/09/2014

My friend from work wanted to see this, and being a keen horror/thriller fan (and usually having no-one to see those types of films with), I jumped at the chance. Little did I know that she would leave me at what was by far the jumpiest moment to go to the ladies room. The ending is quite convoluted and if you're in any way claustrophobic, you definitely won't like it, but other than that I thought it worked quite well as something that was a bit different for it's genre.

Sex Tape ~ 12/09/2014

I really had no desire to see this, but I'd had a REALLY bad day and I needed to laugh and this was the only likely candidate of movie that held even the slightest chance of being funny. Of course, it wasn't really. And no matter how much weight Jason Segel has lost, I still have no desire to see that much of his naked flesh on a big screen. That's an image that will just never ever go away. It's fun (but not really funny) in places but ultimately it tries to hard (insert sex joke here) and ends up being a bit limp.

Pride ~ 17/09/2014 Full review here.

Before I Go To Sleep ~ 20/09/2014

What We Do In The Shadows ~ 27/09/2014 Full review here.

A Walk Among The Tombstones ~ 28/09/2014

Or Taken 5 if you look at it the way my brother does...

Taken (Taken 1)
Unknown (Taken 2)
Taken 2 (Taken 3)
Non-Stop (Taken 4)
A Walk Among The Tombstones (Taken 5)
Leaving Taken 3 as really being Taken 6.

Anyway, to sum up, he's kinda hit the nail on the head. It's not Liam Neeson's wife or daughter that gets 'taken' but a drug dealer's wife instead. But then Liam Neeson is brought in to save the day. He's a PI and an ex something or other that makes him the best in his business. It's actually not a bad film, with quite a few twists, but I can't help but feel that someone needs to give Liam Neeson something a little bit different to do to break the Taken mold.

The Riot Club ~ 01/10/2014

Full review here.

 

Dracula Untold ~ 05/10/2014

It tries to spin Dracula into yet another new tale. So first we had the classic Hammer Horror Dracula that lived in a castle and preyed on pretty girls with heaving bosom's. Then we had Bram Stoker's Dracula where he was Vlad the Impaler and he was upset that his love killed herself so he drank the blood of Christ and became the undead Dracula. Then we had Dracula 2000 where he was Judas who had drunk the blood of Christ to spite him. In this re-telling of the "untold" story, he's back to being Vlad, but instead of drinking the blood of Christ because of losing the woman he loves, he goes to a secret meeting in a cave with a really old vampire and asks him to make him strong enough to defeat an army. Thus, he is reborn as Dracula. It's a bit long and a bit boring, and although Luke Evans is pretty, he's just not charismatic enough to be Dracula.

The Maze Runner ~ 10/10/2014

The Rewrite ~ 14/10/2014

The Judge ~ 18/10/2014

Testament Of Youth ~ 25/10/2014 Full review here.

Gone Girl ~ 26/10/2014

Ah, the book club book of the month was Gone Girl (my selection) and so as a book club treat, we all went to see the movie after the discussion about the book (and a fantastic roast at The Windmill I might add). The film sticks to the book quite faithfully, which in my opinion is a bit of a shame as *spoiler alert* I hate when nasty pieces of work don't get their comeuppance. Solid performances from the cast, although I did think that none of the actors was particularly how I'd pictured their characters, they were all pretty faultless. But the ending of the film is just as much of a let down as the book ending is.

Nightcrawler ~ 27/10/2014 Full review here.

Fury ~ 29/10/2014

Another film I saw with my workmate. Probably wouldn't have otherwise as I really wasn't sure I wanted to from the trailer. Also, the alarming number of times I saw said trailer made me wonder if they were just plugging it too much for it to be any good. Thankfully it was good. In the sense that it was well done. I don't think you should find movies about war particularly enjoyable owing to the realities they represent. Faultless performances from all concerned (yes, even Shia "I'm not acting anymore" LeBeouf was excellent) and a story that although seemed it would be slow (it is essentially about a tank after all) kept me interested and wanting to know how it would end.

Interstellar ~ 08/11/2014



The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1 ~ 21/11/2014 Full review here.

Horrible Bosses 2 ~ 23/11/2014

It always amazes me how the people you see a film with can really change the entire experience of the movie. I saw Horrible Bosses on my birthday a few years ago, and while I didn't hate it, I have no real desire to see it again, and similarly had no real desire to see the sequel. The reason I did see it is that it was a free screening as part of my FDA course, so it would have been rude to have not stayed and watched the film. Now had I been sat by myself watching the film, I probably wouldn't have liked it, or found it as funny as I did. But thankfully I was not sitting by myself. I happened to meet a lovely chap by the name of Jon at this screening and as he found the movie so evidently hilarious, it added immensely to my enjoyment. So much so I think I actually preferred Horrible Bosses 2 to it's predecessor. Of course, that might also have something to do with the 'bosses' this time around, as both Chris Pine and Christoph Waltz were hilarious, and clearly relishing every moment of their chance to be so evil. Again, if you missed it at the cinema, I'm sure it'll be just as hilarious on the small screen, but definitely do see it.

The Imitation Game ~ 06/12/2014

Another movie I really wasn't fussed about seeing from the trailer but owing to the story I felt I *should* see it. Of course Benedict Cumberbatch was good, but I don't think I'd go so far as Oscar worthy? Keira Knightley wasn't all that annoying but again, Oscar worthy? I wouldn't say so. It's a well told version of the story but it's long and it's not exactly riveting stuff. This is one I definitely could have waited for the DVD of and not have felt like I missed out. 

*waits for the Cumberbitches to lynch me*

St Vincent ~ 11/12/2014



The Hobbit: The Battle Of Five Armies ~ 13/12/2014

Ah, it's finally the end of The Hobbit trilogy. Did it need to be a 9+ hour trilogy. No, of course not. This last installment felt particularly drawn out with a lot of battles (as you might have been able to tell from the title). It's visually stunning of course, and filled with very pretty actors who it's not really a chore to watch for 5 days, but that's how long it felt, even with the scenery and the actors. I will not be queuing up for the extended editions.
 

Exodus: Gods and Kings ~ 29/12/2014

From the trailer I guessed that this was going to be a bit like The Hobbit, long and boring but pretty to look at, and like Noah, I thought it would be long and boring and not especially historically accurate. I had hoped it might also have moments of unintentional humor like Noah, but alas, it did not. There's a lot of walking, a lot of plagues and a lot of Moses talking to God. What I wasn't expecting was that God would be in the guise of a small boy. Very odd. I wouldn't watch it again let's put it that way.

And there you have it. My sum up of 2014. 2015 here we come...!