Testament of Youth
1 EXT. LONDON STREET - EVENING (WINTER) 1
In the enfolding gloom of evening, Vera is BUFFETED in the
crowd; people wave flags, swig from bottles, sit astride
each other’s shoulders.
Vera mingles in the crowd but seems isolated, as though in
a separate bubble. The sound cuts in and out, as though
she’s having trouble connecting.
2 EXT. LONDON STREET - EVENING 2
Vera is moving through the throng, having to elbow her way,
overwhelmed by the densely packed bodies -
The noise still CUTS in and out - as a sudden loud ROAR
crashes in on her
She gasps, turns - to see a MOTOR CAR, spilling over with
revellers. A WOMAN sits on top swigging from a champagne
bottle. A YOUNG SOLDIER, his head bandaged, sees Vera, and
leaps out.
He grabs her hands, pulling her into a hectic dance, as
others around them dance too. Vera SPINS!...dizzy, as faces
fly past her -
She’s trapped, the panic rises - she BREAKS FREE -
-Pushes through the crowd, desperate to escape, elbowing,
annoying people She
sees some church steps ahead of her, and stumbles up
them.
3 INT. CHURCH - MOMENTS LATER 3
Vera hurries inside, her footsteps echoing on marble. Above
her, a high-vaulted dome, ahead of her, rows of pews. It’s
another world in here, silent, dark, seemingly empty.
Salmon Revision 21.04.14 2
Vera walks down a side aisle, and sees a rich oil painting
looming - Francis Danby’s “The Deluge”. Dark waves tower
menacingly in a STORM-RIPPED SEA, people are tossed around in
it like flotsam -
Helpless
Vera is pulled in, mesmerised, towards the image of
apocalyptic destruction -
And SUDDENLY
CUT TO:
4
SHE’S UNDERWATER -4
in a murky gloom, struggling against the water’s force,
trapped, DROWNING! Her hands claw at the fabric of her heavy
Edwardian skirts
CUT BACK TO:
5
INT. CHURCH -5
Shapes take form around her in the gloom - figures, kneeling
in prayer in the pews, women all of them, some on their
knees, others staring into space As
the air fills with their whispers -
VERA takes in the sight, her eyes flickering with panic, the
whispering sound magnifying in her mind -
We CUT back and forth between this and VERA DROWNING
-And she realises the church is full of them - woman after
woman after woman, like an ocean of grief separated from the
BACK TO:
6
Floating now, not struggling, as though she’s given up She
starts to sink, folding in on herself, but with a last
effort pushes up, and starts to slowly FLOAT UPWARDS -
towards the surface She
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3
7 EXT. LAKE, BUXTON - DAY, 1914 (SPRING) 7
Vera surfaces in a beautiful lake, shimmering in a spring
heatwave. It’s five years earlier, and another world.
She’s younger, fresher. Her face clear of the experiences
that have so marked her.
Vera swims, keeping herself concealed behind lakeside
greenery, spying on two YOUNG MEN getting undressed on the
lake side - her brother EDWARD - 18, private, artistic,
elegant - and his close school friend VICTOR - kind, soft-
natured.
EDWARD:
We used to swim here when we were
children...
She catches Edward’s eye, ducks out of sight. He smiles to
himself.
EDWARD (CONT’D)
Where is Vera? I hope she hasn’t
gone in yet, I completely forgot
about the rats -
VICTOR:
(disgusted)
Rats?!
EDWARD:
A big nest of them apparently,
we’ll be alright in the shallows,
but we definitely shouldn’t go over
there
He gestures to the water - where Vera swims out, happily
smiling.
EDWARD:
Oh no! Vera!
On VICTOR, down to shirt and trunks - his alarm!
VICTOR:
Get out of the water! RATS!
Vera waves serenely back, seemingly unable to hear.
VERA:
Come on in!
Victor RUNS down the pier, DIVES in and swims towards her.
He surfaces to see her grinning face. He turns, to see Edward
now fully undressed, who grins at him and dives in.
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Victor realises he’s been had.
BASTARD!
VICTOR:
He SWIMS back towards Edward - who feigns panic.
EDWARD:
Oh no! Help! They’ve got me!
Victor DUCKS him - Vera watches, laughing.
7A OMMITTED 7A *
8 EXT. EDGE OF LAKE - A LITTLE LATER 8
Vera is finishing getting dressed behind a towel held up byEdward. Victor can be seen further away, hurriedly pulling onhis trousers.
*
*
EDWARD:
So what about you and Victor?
VERA:
What about us?
EDWARD:
Come on....
VERA:
(non-committal)
He’s sweet.
EDWARD:
Sweet! All the attention’s making
you arrogant!
He sees she’s finished, flicks her with the towel, they playfight, as a shivering Victor comes over, holding his shoes.
VICTOR:
I’m a block of ice! *
Vera smiles, hands the towel to him, holding it out like acover for his bare torso. He takes it, grinning, and driesoff.
*
*
*
Edward, finishing getting dressed, checks his watch.
EDWARD:
Come on, we should be getting back.
VERA:
(disappointed)
Do we have to?
*
*
*
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5
EDWARD:
Mother and father are expecting us.
Victor pointedly takes Edward’s jacket and puts it on. Edward *
smiles. *
VERA:
(playful) *
They’re driving me mad!
VICTOR:
I like your parents.
VERA:
That’s because you don’t have to
live with them.
EDWARD:
And Roland’ll be here soon.
VERA:
(sighing)
Oh yes, how could I forget...the
perfect one. *
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"Testament of Youth" Scripts.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 20 Apr. 2024. <https://www.scripts.com/script/testament_of_youth_609>.
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