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In this episode, I talk about Lynne Littman’s 1983 film, “Testament.” It’s about how a mother and her children in a California town survive the aftermath of a nuclear bombing. We don’t know who dropped the bombs, what has happened in the rest of the country, and we’re not provided any political details. The film is solely about this family and how they confront the gradual and horrifying deterioration of their bodies due to radiation poisoning and the breakdown of society. Without a doubt, this is the most terrifying film I have ever seen. I talk about grief and loss, what makes the film so emotionally powerful, and the difference between watching it before and during the Covid-19 pandemic. There are spoilers in this episode.
Full show notes:
- The Day After (1983)
- Threads (1984)
- Carol Amen’s “The Last Testament”
- Hiroshima Maiden (1988)
- My episode on Alain Resnais’s Hiroshima Mon Amour
- All issues of Women and Film Magazine
- A Marriage (1991)
- A Question of Love (1978)
- My episode on John Cassavetes’s Opening Night
- Minnie Bruce Pratt
- Pale Horse, Pale Rider by Katherine Anne Porter
- “Dirge Without Music” by Edna St. Vincent Millay
My Sources
- Lynne Littman Interview
- About Lynne Littman
- “Our Testament” by Kyle Raymond Fitzpatrick
- Roger Ebert’s review of the film
- “Watching Testament at the End of the World” by K. Austin Collins
- Testament at 20 (2003)
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Her Head in Films 