Thirty Great Movies You've Probably Never Seen: Testament

Year: 1983

Director: Lynne Littman

I love big event movies where things blow up real good, but I also love movies that are more intimate in scope.

Remember M. Night Shyamalan’s Signs? What I liked about that movie is how tight the focus of the story was: What if hostile aliens were invading your town . . . tonight?

Testament is like that, but instead of aliens, it’s an intimate look at a nuclear holocaust. How would your family deal with the aftermath of the bombs dropping?

William Devane and the great Jane Alexander star as the parents of a middle class family living in an exurb of San Francisco. One seemingly normal day, the television is interrupted with news of nuclear devices being detonated along the east coast of the United States. The broadcast is interrupted and Jane is blinded by a flash off in the distance.

As mentioned, this movie is not about who started the war, or why. The story follows the efforts of Alexander and her three children (Roxana Zal, Ross Harris and Lukas Haas, in his feature film debut), along with their neighbors, to survive.

The town was not hit directly with the blast, but soon radiation sickness begins to set in. Tragically, it affects children the hardest.

Okay, I know what you are thinking. Why would I want to subject myself to such misery? Fair question. But in addition to being a warning statement about the collateral damage from war, the movie is really about hope. It’s about soldiering on in the face of uncertainty and calamity.

It’s also full of wonderful acting. Jane Alexander has always been one of our best actresses, and despite her four Academy Award nominations (one for this movie, in fact), she’s never really gotten her due from Hollywood. Zal, Harris and Haas are also excellent, as is Devane (albeit in a brief role). There are also excellent supporting performances from Kevin Costner and Rebecca DeMornay as a bereft young couple

Also in the film is Philip Anglim, most noted for creating the title role in The Elephant Man on Broadway and for his tortured priest in The Thorn Birds.

There are moments of almost unbearable poignancy throughout this beautiful movie. In one scene, Alexander discusses sex and love with her daughter, who is sure she’ll not live to experience them. In another, she listens to a long-forgotten phone message from her husband on the answering machine, which she is harvesting valuable batteries from.

It is indeed heartbreaking but also inspiring to watch the citizens of the town do their best to stay civilized as they struggle to make it one more day with less food, one more day with less electricity, one more day with fewer folks around to help.

I first saw this movie in New York with my mother, who was visiting from Texas. I think she was a little mad at me for taking her to such a sad movie. But I stand by my affection for Testament. Grab a box of tissues and enjoy a good cry with this movie.

[Thirty Day Hub Challenge #8]