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“Testament” is one of those movies that will definitely get the waterworks going; it got me crying. I have been fortunate enough to watch it two times to fully appreciate its brilliance. I was able to get through the movie anticipating all the big moments and, while sad, it did not affect me as deeply. Knowing the outcome changed my perspective.
There is a message with some hope in this film. Rather than viewing the movie for its face value, I tried to interpret the reason for it being made in the first place. Certainly a more nuanced comprehension, but looking past the violent imagery serves its own purpose too. The particular story of ‘Testament’ is about a family torn apart by a Nuclear War. This is not a SCI-FI film! And it does not feature any special effects or monumental explosions… mushroom clouds are also nowhere to be found. The focus of the film is on the manners – how we treat each other amidst chaos.
This film starts with a short depiction of a quintessential family that has been plucked straight out of a sitcom. The father, played by Wiliam Devane, is depicted as a fitness aficionado. Jane Alexander’s character is kind, and humorous, but at the same time slightly disorganized. The rest of the family consists of a daughter who takes piano classes, a son who loves to challenge his father to bike races up the hills, and a younger boy whose sole purpose is to safeguard the ‘treasure’ that is hidden in his bedroom’s chest drawer. The film records the lives of these people. We learn to appreciate their strengths and weaknesses, until one peaceful afternoon, everything changes with the advent of the war.
And so that is mostly what the film is about: What happens after? There is no anarchy. There is some looting, but it is restrained. Most of the people in that little town in northern California do their utmost to hold things together. Well, there are church gatherings. There is public health action. A popular local figure (Leon Ames from the television show “Life with Father” years back) is a ham radio operator, and establishes communication with a few other locations. So everyone decides to proceed with the grade school production of the play. People continue to live…while death does manages to penetrate, as radiation sickness starts to take its toll, first on the infants, then on the kids, until eventually the graveyard reaches capacity and the corpses must be cremated on a bonfire.
The notion of life going on after the bomb has been depicted by the movie in ways, such as kids taking the batteries out of toys and computer games and turning them in for emergency use. Rationing of gasoline is done until it finally runs out, and the survivors have no garbage collection, electricity and most importantly, there is no news from the outside world. I recall the recent research which claimed a real nuclear war would bring forth clouds of dust that would choke the flora of earth and doomsday us all, while the survivors contended the ongoing rationing of gasoline and further, did not get to see any improvement in emergency services afterwards, rather the sky continued to darken.
As a mother, Jane Alexander attempts to maintain affection and respect during this destruction. She appreciates the fact that her children learn to rise to the occasion and applauds them, while remaining available for them. It is a profound performance, the crux of the film. In fact, watching the film becomes less excruciating because of Alexander’s performance, as she manages to remain kind during the nightmares. It happens to be one of the most impactful scenes I have watched because of the combined excellent acting of Jane Alexander and the production of the movie bringing forth the last glimmers of hope as she is ready to show before darkness engulfs the world forever.
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