Testament of Youth is a British drama film, released in the UK in January 2015, which is based on the First World War memoir of the same name written by Vera Brittain.
At the beginning of the book, Vera Brittain describes how she originally intended to write of her experiences as a novel but was unable to achieve the necessary objective distance from her subject. She then tried to publish her original diary from the war years but with all names fictionalised. This too proved unworkable. Finally she decided to write her own personal story, putting her own experiences in the wider historic and social context: an autobiographical memoir with documents (letters and poems written by the protagonists) and intellectual digressions.
Several critics have noted the cathartic process by which she deals with her grief at the loss of young men close to her - her brother Edward Brittain, her fiancé Roland Leighton, her friends Victor Richardson and Geoffrey Thurlow - in the writing.
The narrative begins with Vera's plans to enter the University of Oxford and her romance with Roland Leighton, a friend of her brother Edward. Both were commissioned as officers early in World War I, and both were subsequently killed, as were several other members of their social circle.
It concludes with her meeting her husband George Catlin and their eventual marriage in 1925.
The diaries on which the book is partly based, Chronicle of Youth, edited by Alan Bishop, were published in 1981. In 1998, the war letters which Brittain also drew on in her autobiography were published in an edition by Alan Bishop and Mark Bostridge. Entitled Letters from a Lost Generation, their appearance was met with considerable acclaim.
The movie adaptation stars Alicia Vikander as Vera Brittain, Kit Harington as Roland Leighton, Colin Morgan as Victor Richardson, Taron Egerton as Edward Brittain,, Dominic West as Mr Brittain, Emily Watson as Mrs Brittain, Hayley Atwell as Hope, Anna Chancellor as Mrs Leighton, Miranda Richardson as Miss Lorimer, Charlotte Hope as Betty.
(Reading Comprehension + Listening Comprehension)
2. Suite Francaise
Over fifty years after acclaimed novelist Irène Némirovsky's death in a concentration camp, her daughter decided to find the courage to read her journals. What she discovered was an incredible story...
Set in 1940s France and based on the international best-selling work of Irène Némirovsky, SUITE FRANÇAISE follows beautiful Lucile Angellier who awaits news from her husband, a prisoner of war whilst leading a stifled existence with her domineering mother-in-law.
When Parisian refugees pour into their small town, soon followed by a regiment of German soldiers who take up residence in the villagers' homes, Lucile’s life is turned upside down.
In the Angellier home, Lucile initially tries to ignore Bruno, the handsome and refined German officer who has been posted to live with them. But soon, a powerful love draws them together and traps them in the tragedy of war. (from BBC Movies)
(Listening Comprehension + Read and Write)
Discussion
- What are the similarities between the two stories?
- What are the elements related to warfare that the two trailers stress?
- Do you know any of the actors in the two casts? In which roles have you seen them?
- Do you like films/books set in the past like historical novel or costume movies? What about war movies? Why? Why not?
- Do you think love between war enemies is really possible? Give reasons for your answer
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