Testament of Youth

[prettyxcool]

She was in A Royal Affair and Anna Karenina. She will also be in Son of a Gun.

I remember her from those too.

[alythonian]

I saw this in a 1/2 empty Ocean Terrible in Leith tonight.
I was interested to see the film having read the recent press articles about the book, the film and the truth behind Edward's death.
It was a very English BBC dramatisation and all the better for it to be honest. I couldn't believe that the actress playing Vera is Swedish she had English rose down to a T.
The film did go on a bit but was faithful to the original text in that way. Maybe as a film it didn't need to, but I appreciate in her book why she needed to take it to where she did.
I thought Kit Harington was a bit of a weak link and I didn't find him wholly believable in the role.
An inspiring woman, years ahead of her time.

[ejwrank]

I saw this before Christmas and I really liked it. We had a Q&A with Alicia Vikander and she is impressive -- her English is so perfectly English! I am old enough to remember the TV series (I just checked and it was in 1979) which starred Cheryl Campbell which was wonderful. She was a neighbour of ours for many years.

[chelle1973]

She was in A Royal Affair and Anna Karenina. She will also be in Son of a Gun.

I remember her from those too.

Oooh I haven't seen A Royal Affair and can only remember Keira Knightley in Anna Karenina. I'll p*y attention when Son of a Gun comes around though.

[RAZORBACK]

She was in A Royal Affair and Anna Karenina. She will also be in Son of a Gun.

I remember her from those too.

Oooh I haven't seen A Royal Affair and can only remember Keira Knightley in Anna Karenina. I'll p*y attention when Son of a Gun comes around though.

She's also in Ex Machina (out here on the 23rd January), a very talented actress IMO...

[Betty Botter]

She was in A Royal Affair and Anna Karenina. She will also be in Son of a Gun.

I remember her from those too.

Oooh I haven't seen A Royal Affair and can only remember Keira Knightley in Anna Karenina. I'll p*y attention when Son of a Gun comes around though.

A Royal Affair was on BBC Four last night and is available on BBC iPlayer.

[GrumpySod]

OK so maybe it's a Shepherds Bush thing as I'm with Valda on this. The film was beautifully shot and well acted but quite frankly it viewed as a pacifist's wet dream. Yes we all know the horrors of war and should try to avoid it if possible, but there are times where that just isn't possible.

For example, reading about Vera Britten it seems that she was a huge advocate of appeasing the Nazi's, and we all know what the result of that would have been!

It also seems much of the love story which in itself seemed extremely contrived never even happened! Roland sent Vera a letter telling her he'd enlisted (I mean seriously?) and the real story of the brother (Edward) was sadly glossed over. Apparentely he was gay and given a choice between the "shame" of being court martialled for having relations with fellow troops, instead chose to volunteer for the Italian front and then commit suicide by enemy fire.

Lastly I read that the Father committed suicide later on as he was unable to cope with the death of his son. It seems that the male side of the Britten family was destined for tragic ends.

2/10 I'm afraid

I'll be interested to see how well it does at the cinema's when on general release. Personally I found it tedious in the extreme.

[cliveas]

I thought this was a moving and well made film. I didn't think of it as the story of the group of people portrayed but rather the story of a generation seen through Vera's eyes. Yes. we have all seen documentaries about the horrors of war but sometimes it is more affecting to see it dramatised from an individual's viewpoint if done well.

I was at the front of the Empire as well. I didn't get a headache but found that the picture seemed out of focus for the background area.

[ejwrank]

For example, reading about Vera Britten it seems that she was a huge advocate of appeasing the Nazi's, and we all know what the result of that would have been!

“What Can We Do In Wartime?“, in Forward (Scotland, September 9, 1939)

During the Second World War she toured America at a time when the US was neutral. At home was active in the Peace Pledge Union’s food relief campaign and also worked as a fire warden. Vera also spoke out against the allied saturation bombing of German cities; in 1944 she published a booklet Massacre by Bombing. She was heavily criticised for her stance, though after the war, the validity of carpet bombing was increasingly questioned. Her name was listed on the Nazi’s Black book of 2000 people who were to be immediately arrested in Britain, following a German invasion.


She certainly was NOT a huge advocate of appeasing the Nazis as you state, JazzyDiva. You might not like the film but Vera Brittain certainly was NOT pro Nazi later on in her life.

[cliveas]

Her name was listed on the Nazi’s Black book of 2000 people who were to be immediately arrested in Britain, following a German invasion.

That isn't surprising considering that before the war started she was already protesting against the treatment of Jews in Germany and finding ways to help refugees escape to Britain. And years earlier she had protested at meetings of Oswald Mosley and the British Union of Fascists.

Later she campaigned for causes such as the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament, independence for colonised countries and the anti-apartheid movement in South Africa. She was certainly a pacifist but was a great supporter of the idea of The League of Nations (the forerunner to the UN).