Last weekend we went to see Testament of Youth. It is based on the memoir by Vera Brittain, who, as a young woman, dreamed of going to Oxford. She eventually got her disapproving father's consent and, despite being mostly self-taught, passed the entrance exams. Early on in her time there, the First World War broke out. Her beloved brother and her boyfriend both enlisted. Soon, she found the world of books and learning no longer relevant. She became a nurse, and was eventually sent to France, where she cared for injured German soldiers. Her boyfriend, who on leave had become her fiance, was killed, as was her brother. After the war she returned to Oxford and after her studies, according to the biographical information at the end of the film, she became one of England's most prominent pacifists, as well as the voice of her generation. Just as, I thought, Lena Dunham is for hers.
