Testament

I've been a fanatic of disaster movies and post-apocalypse Sci-Fi for practically my entire life already, but I have deliberately been avoiding the actual "nuclear bomb impact" films. There were several of these released during the early 80's. Apart from "Testament", there's also "The Day After", "Threads", "Letters from a Dead Man" and "When the Wind Blows". All these aforementioned films have high ratings, favorable reviews and impeccable cult-reputations. So, then why haven't I seen them before? Because the impact of these films, pretty much like the H-bomb itself, is downright devastating, and yours truly is a very sensitive person!

There's a world of difference between sci-fi films set in post-nuclear wastelands, where a handful of human survivors drive around in dune buggies and battle each other over a tank of fuel, and actually witnessing the long and excruciatingly painful process which leads to the complete extinction of mankind. And even though writer Carol Amen and director Lynne Littman absolutely restrain from turning "Testament" into a sentimental tearjerker, the film is inescapably harrowing, and numerous sequences caused me to burst into tears.

The story takes place in the peaceful little community of Hamlin, a suburb of San Francisco, and introduces the model family of Tom and Carol Wetherly and their three children. Everything they love and worked for literally vanishes in a bright and sudden flash. Hamlin's unusual geographical location, in a sort of mountain bowl, safeguards the town from instantaneous destruction, but this rapidly proves to be a curse instead of a blessing. Without any form of sensationalism, or raising idle hope, Littman depicts how the townspeople and loved ones succumb around Carol, whilst radio contact with the rest of the world fades even further away.

The aptly titled "Testament" is a beautiful, frustrating, haunting, infuriating and noble film all at once. The performances are stellar, and the use of music is staggering. The only remote default, according to me, isn't even a shortcoming in the film itself. I find it unjust that so many people must emphasize in their reviews that "Testament" was directed by a woman, and hence make the film somewhat of a monument of feminism. As far as I'm concerned, gender equality is incontrovertible, and women are just as skilled and talented as directors as males. Lynne Littman did a fantastic job as a director; - period!

This is one of those films that is very draining to watch, but worth it. It is a slightly more tame approach to the subject matter, but excellently done.

It is often compared with "Threads", which many people think is too graphic. Regardless, I like both films. I have to say that "Testament" will look more realistic to rural people, who may just die slowly as the characters in this film do, rather than be subjected to the immediate effects of the attack.

Rebecca De Mornay's appearance in this film, which I only saw after seeing "By Dawn's Early Light", makes a connection between these two films. Everyone should see both films at least once, as well. Excellent performances from Rossie Harris and Mako make this film stand out even further.

Having seen "The Day After" now, I prefer "Testament" but find both films excellent.

Testament (1983) was one of the few films that came out during the 80's that dealt with the Nuclear War scenario seriously. Jane Alexander stars as the matriarch of your typical middle class family. One day when the father (Bill Devane) is on a business trip, life as we know it was ended when the missiles were launched. Who or what caused this holocaust was never explained. But the only that thing that matters now is survival and trying to keep the family together. What tragic world lies ahead for the family now that life as they knew it was changed forever?

A real heartbreaking film that shows the side of the human condition that we all have deep within us. There's no big budgeted effects or over the top acting in this film. Just raw emotion, great acting and a real good script and direction that fuels this drama. I strongly recommend this movie for all the reasons I have stated.

This small film from 1983 might actually be more emotionally devastating than "Schindler's List" because it presents us with a horrific "what-if" scenario that I imagine scared the be-jesus out of viewers in the Cold War era that it was made and will send shivers down the spine of anyone who watches it today. The threat of nuclear holocaust may not be so looming now, but the threat of bio-terrorism or any other level of terrorist attack or all out war is very real in the post 9/11 era. This film is so stark and intimate that it really doesn't matter what these people are dying from (it could just as easily be biological warfare as it is nuclear fallout). I was so deeply effected by this film's portrayal or one family in one small California town getting cut off from the rest of civilization (which we can only assume is in the midst of WWIII) and slowly falling apart while one by one loved ones succumb to nuclear radiation that I couldn't watch it all. I had to flip the channels to watch a few minutes of "The Simpsons" before I turned back to watch the end. This is possibly the most depressing film ever made. Jane Alexander running frantically around the house searching for her youngest son's favorite stuffed animal and refusing to bury his body (wrapped in bedsheets) in the backyard until she found it is so heartbreaking that it made me sick. As such, this is the film that every politician the world over should watch before declaring any kind of war. War is not about winning or losing or politics or doing what it right, war is about the death of our children. Everyone needs to be reminded of that before making the war cry. In the end we all die.

I've seen this movie twice, and "Testament" still lingers in my brain as an atom bomb movie. And it's not really about that - the bomb comes and goes fairly quickly - but more about how a community comes together during the aftermath. It's kinda funny how the movie flips from TV commercial suburban life to sobering angst, where precious resources are rationed and then dry up completely.

But it is a powerful movie, thanks largely to the characters and the performances. Even as death loiters nearby and the losses keep piling up (god, this movie just keeps taking), there's Jane Alexander hanging on til the bitter end. Despite the climate of that period in the early '80s, subtlety is really this movie's strong suit. Characters die off, one by one, but it's never staged or theatrical. Very subdued; we'll just get a single image and put the horrifying pieces together.

It's kinda hard to believe there's a (tiny) ray of hope at the end of this thing. But man, it's a punishing journey.

7/10