Testament of Youth

The Book

Vera Brittain's memoir of the First World War was published in 1933, quite a while after the prolific outpouring of novels, poems and biographies in the late 1920s. She acknowledges Robert Graves' autobiography, Goodbye to All That, early on and having read his harrowing, reportage of life in the trenches, I found Testament of Youth a less powerful read. I think because she is writing of her own experiences, mainly away from the front as a volunteer nurse, and relying on letters and telegrams from her brother and her tragic first love to fill in detail, the book is more personal and concentrates on her feelings and reactions to what is going on around her and out of her control.

It was interesting to read about the way civilian life back home altered as a result of WW1 and the attitudes of the older generation to the conflict, but it did not grip me as Graves did.



I found the later chapters more interesting, as they dealt with Vera's involvement in the League of Nations and her tour of some of Europe after the ceasefire, seeing first-hand the results of the Versailles Treaty on the population of South Germany and France.



The Movie

It is entirely fitting that Testament of Youth has been made and is showing in cinemas as a tribute to the Fallen on the centenary of WWI.
The film highlights our debt to the lost generation and gives us a reminder of who we should be thinking about during that minute's silence on November 11th every year.
The story starts with Vera during the Armistice celebrations in 1918, as everyone around her celebrates but she cannot bear the gaiety as all she can think of is her loss. It reminded me of Graves' poem Armistice Day, 1918.

The film focuses on the personal story surrounding the war and spends a lot of time developing the characters, highlighting the carefree friendships and the love between Vera and Roland in order for the tragedy to make more impact. The first powerful reminder of the scale of the losses comes when Vera looks through the newspaper at the list of the fallen - pages and pages. Another is the gradually rising shot of the dead and wounded laid out on stretchers as Vera helplessly doesn't know where to start administering aid.

The direction and filming is excellent with gorgeous scenery and interior settings contrasting with the grime, blood and rain of the trenches. When personal tragedy strikes, it is often left without dialogue and disjointed shots of decor are the only way to show how devastating the news is. Roland's poems are also used to poignant effect in voice over, while giving us scenes of better days, and Max Richter's score is beautiful and haunting.

The film does take liberties with the original memoir in order to produce more pathos and human interest, but as a basis for telling a more emotionally tragic story it works very well.
The script shortens her nursing experiences, by cutting out her time in Malta, and stops the narrative before Vera starts her campaigning and writing career, but the ending sees her take to the debating stage in a speech appealing to audiences that could apply to any time since regarding war, but is somehow never heeded.

 
If you enjoyed the book, try Robert Graves' Goodbye to All That or Ford Madox Ford's Parade's End
If you enjoyed the film, try Regeneration or Birdsong