This film is part of Rentals
Testament of Youth
Alicia Vikander brings to life the extraordinary life of Vera Brittain, whose affair with a dashing friend (Kit Harington) is cruelly cut short by the onset of war.
Drama 2014 130 mins
Director: James Kent
Overview
Alicia Vikander brings to life the extraordinary life of Vera Brittain in this exquisitely realised adaptation of her beloved and moving WWI memoir. Intelligent and free-spirited Vera overcomes the narrow-mindedness of her conservative parents, winning a scholarship to Oxford. Entranced by her brother’s dashing friend Roland (Kit Harington), who shares her literary aspirations, she plunges into an intoxicating romance.
Blooming, in love and on the cusp of fulfilling her ambitions, Vera’s dreams are brutally shattered by the onset of war. When Roland and her brother ship out to the front, she abandons the cloistered environs of university life and volunteers as a nurse. Immediately confronted with the pitiless reality of the war’s victims, her life is irrevocably changed as she loses, one-by-one, the young men she held so dear. Director James Kent makes an assured transition from television drama to feature film, effortlessly rendering the dramatic shift from the first flush of lyricism in the idyllic English countryside, to the stark verisimilitude of the battleground. Mingling innocent charm with dogged persistence, Alicia Vikander (A Royal Affair, The Danish Girl) is marvellous as the sharply perceptive Vera. Shining brightly, and lingering long in the mind afterwards, are the performances of three rising British stars – Kit Harington, Taron Egerton and Colin Morgan – who do collective justice to the memory of the ordinary heroes they portray.
scenes of bloody injuryRelated
Drama
A Moment in the Reeds
Romance 2017 107 mins Director: Mikko Makela
The world’s troubles recede, at least for a moment, in this intimate drama about an affair between a Finnish man and a Syrian immigrant.
Ismael's Ghosts
Drama 2017 135 mins Director: Arnaud Desplechin
Marion Cotillard, Mathieu Amalric and Charlotte Gainsbourg form a bizarre love triangle at the heart of Arnaud Desplechin's elaborate, playful comic-thriller.
The Ciambra
Drama 2017 118 mins Director: Jonas Carpignano
A boy's life on the mean streets of a cloistered Calabrian community is captured in eye-opening realism, in this stunning work from the director of Mediterranea.
Edie
Drama 2017 102 mins Director: Simon Hunter
Sheila Hancock is tremendous as a widow who sets out to scale a Scottish mountain, in this gorgeously photographed paean to late-life adventure.
On Chesil Beach
Drama 2017 110 mins Director: Dominic Cooke
Saoirse Ronan and Billy Howle play a young, married couple struggling to physically connect in this sensitive adaptation of Ian McEwan’s acclaimed novel.
Summer 1993
Drama 2017 98 mins Director: Carla Simón
An outstanding debut feature charting the emotional journey of a six-year old girl in the aftermath of her mother’s death in early 1990s Spain.
Features
'71
Thriller 2014 99 mins Director: Yann Demange
A young British squaddie is caught behind enemy lines in bomb-torn Belfast, in Yann Demange’s riveting suspense thriller.
Lila Says
Drama 2004 87 mins Director: Ziad Doueiri
Ziad Doueiri’s provocative Lila Says is a sun-drenched romance full of sensuality, secrets, and tragedy.
Pride
Comedy 2014 120 mins Director: Matthew Warchus
The smash culture-clash comedy tells the incredible true story of how miners and a Gay Pride support group come together to fight a common cause.
Queen and Country
Comedy 2014 115 mins Director: John Boorman
John Boorman’s follow up to Hope and Glory finds 18-year-old Bill called up for National Service against the backdrop of the Korean War.
Neds
Crime 2010 124 mins Director: Peter Mullan
Peter Mullan's forceful drama about a boy who becomes embroiled in gangland life in 1970s Glasgow, peppered throughout with a rich vein of black humour.
Madagascar Skin
Drama 1995 91 mins Director: Christopher Newby
John Hannah stars as a painfully shy gay man who escapes the city in Chris Newby’s extraordinary second feature.
Featuring Alicia Vikander
Ingrid Bergman: In Her Own Words
Documentary 2015 114 mins Director: Stig Björkman
An illuminating portrait of the pioneering actress, crafted from her unique personal archive of home-movie footage, letters and diary extracts.
The Light between Oceans
Drama 2016 132 mins Director: Derek Cianfrance
Michael Fassbender and Alicia Vikander star in Derek Cianfrance’s sweeping romance about a lighthouse keeper, his wife, and the baby they rescue from a drifting boat.
Featuring Kit Harington
Brimstone
Western 2016 148 mins Director: Martin Koolhoven
Guy Pearce, Dakota Fanning, Kit Harington star in a brutal revenge tale about a mute midwife in the old American west.
New
A Moment in the Reeds
Romance 2017 107 mins Director: Mikko Makela
The world’s troubles recede, at least for a moment, in this intimate drama about an affair between a Finnish man and a Syrian immigrant.
The Happy Prince
Biopic 2018 105 mins Director: Rupert Everett
Rupert Everett astounds as Oscar Wilde, depicting the fallen star in the final years of his life, in this heartfelt and captivating passion project.
I Am Not a Serial Killer
Thriller 2016 103 mins Director: Billy O'Brien
A teenage sociopath comes face to face with an evil force in this chilling and darkly humorous adaptation of Dan Wells’ acclaimed cult novel.
Ismael's Ghosts
Drama 2017 135 mins Director: Arnaud Desplechin
Marion Cotillard, Mathieu Amalric and Charlotte Gainsbourg form a bizarre love triangle at the heart of Arnaud Desplechin's elaborate, playful comic-thriller.
Malila: The Farewell Flower
2017 95 mins Director: Anucha Boonyawatana
A dream-like encounter between two ex-lovers becomes a meditation on love, life and loss in this hauntingly beautiful film.
The Ciambra
Drama 2017 118 mins Director: Jonas Carpignano
A boy's life on the mean streets of a cloistered Calabrian community is captured in eye-opening realism, in this stunning work from the director of Mediterranea.
Extras
BFI Presents Testament of Youth Panel Discussion
Testament of Youth Introduction and Featurette
Testament of Youth Stars Hit the Red Carpet
Testament of Youth Centrepiece Gala (Press conference)
