"And if I do go to prison... well, it's all experience."

I hate missing out on good movies. :-P (Currently whenever I think of Downton Abbey Season six and Brooklyn I shed a tear or two. (Well, maybe not.)) But it's just that I want to see them so badly, and I can't seem to do so. Either I'm too poor of a student or either I have no friends with good movie tastes who actually own the dvd for me to borrow.

In any case, my not-having-seen-agony only multiplied recently, having discovered this - this - this EXCELLENT THING called "The Great War: The People's Story." (Let me tell you, it looks like absolute corking stuff.) It's a documentary, but it stars real classic Period Drama actors and actresses including Romola Garai and Claire Foy. And it's about WW1 and IT LOOKS AMAZING. (I count on you to go and watch the video I so kindly embedded above for you. Go now. Onetwothreego.)

(Romola Garai looks splendid in every era, right-ho, followers all?)

So basically this amazing documentary (which I have obviously not yet seen but I just know it's amazing because I was, unlike Elizabeth Bennet, born with good prejudging skills) is about actual real WW1 letters various different people have found throughout the years in attics and basements and old dark drawers or whatever. These true stories are read out and acted out by actors in WW2 settings and costumes. The stories of these unknown random WW1 heros and heroines are bought to life.

(LOOOK. It's AMY DORRIT.)

The costumes look like absolute tickety-boo (as our dear friend Chummy would say), and I spotted several familiar faces, including our dear Mrs Bennet! Indeed, it took me several looks, but indeed there is Alison Steadman sporting a very calm and sensible character. (Here's a splendid picture of her in Edwardian array.) And Romola Garai! Of course she needed to be in another Costume Drama - she hasn't done that many, heh. And look, there's Claire Foy too - absolutely smashing the skirtwaist and blouse and pompadour. And Fisher Bloom from Lark Rise looks hardly recognisable with a Kitchener moustache. (I spotted him, though. ;-P)

(Other Period Drama actors include the handsome James Norton (Belle, Death comes to Pemberly) and Edna from Downton Abbey.)

LOOK HOW CUTE IT LOOKS. (*faints*)

If you've seen this: I envy thee and thy skills for having captured this documentary into your possession. Or I envy thy skills on having found this beauteous documentary on the realms of the interwebs. (I cannot find it anywhere. And Amazon has decided to sell it for a whopping 3000 pounds, or something near the like.) Have you seen this? (And will you dare to tell me and face jealousy? :-P)

(PS. If you don't get the title, you obviously haven't seen the video I so kindly embedded for you.)

Interview with Emily Ann Putzke!

Emily Ann Putzke has written this book called Resist, and it's just released and let me tell you, as an honoured advance reader, I can tell you that it's GOOD. It's really moving as well as deep and... true. It really happened. The book made me cry, and I highly recommend it.

I'm honoured to be a part of Emily's book blog tour... and here's an interview with the One And Only Authoress of the One And Only Resist. :-D

1. When and how did you first 'discover' the Scholl family?

I first read about the Scholl family in November of 2014. Resistance during WWII really fascinates me, so I was looking on Pinterest for pictures and facts about the German resistance. That's when I came across Sophie and Hans Scholl. Their story really touched me, so I got all the books about them I could get my hands on. The rest, as they say, is history!

2. What inspired you to write down their story?

When I read the full story Hans and Sophie it made me sit there in awe and sorrow. Hans and Sophie were around my age and they had such a strong sense of right and wrong that they were willing to die in the fight against evil. I wanted the world to know about them and be inspired by their story as I have been.  

3. The story is obviously a very sad one (I cried while reading it) - did you cry while writing it? Is it a story you get emotional about?

I think I cried the most while doing the research because the story was still new and fresh to me. Maybe the writing didn’t make me cry as much because I put myself in Hans’ place for the entire novel … maybe some of his courage was passed on to me. “I knew what I took upon myself and I was prepared to lose my life by doing so …. please don’t be too grieved that I have to leave this earth so soon .... please know that Sophie and I couldn’t have acted in any other way.” But I can’t deny that the ending was hard and I had tears burning in my eyes as I wrote the final words.

4. Which character do you relate the most to?

I’m more reserved and introverted, like Sophie. I’m also similar to Hans, though. I can be a bit impulsive and jump into projects with lots of gusto like him. I can relate to both of them in different ways.

5. Are there any fictional characters in this book? Which characters did you make up yourself?

There are only a handful of fictional characters in Resist such as a few of the soldiers. Although, I did base some of the soldiers on people Hans mentioned in his Eastern Front diary. Roland, the medical student Hans serves with in France was fictional, as was the red-headed soldier, Otto. Everyone else was either real, or based on a real person.

6. Are there any soundtracks/songs you listened to while writing this book? Any songs that remind you of RESIST?

I listened to Schindler's List and Sophie Scholl: The Final Days. When I listen to them, they bring me back to writing Resist. It’s amazing what a strong hold music has on our memory!

7. Was 'RESIST' the first title you considered? If not, could you tell me what some of the other titles were? (I like these little behind-the-scenes facts. :-))

I really can’t remember having another title in mind except for maybe Resistance, but that didn’t feel right. I liked the sound of Resist from the get-go. Boring answer, sorry!

8. If 'they' would make a movie about Hans Scholl, who would you cast as Hans?

There is already a German film about Hans and Sophie Scholl that was made in 2005. It’s about their final days, however, so ‘they’ should make another film that covers more of Hans’ story. That being said, I absolutely love the actor, Fabian Hinrichs who portrayed Hans, but he’s eleven years older now. Does he have a younger brother? I’d cast him.

About the Author:

Emily Ann Putzke is a young novelist, historical reenactor, and history lover. You can learn more about Emily and her books on her blog, Goodreads, Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram. 

Thank you so much, Emily for writing this amazing book + for answering my questions!

People reading, head over here for the fantastic giveaway Emily's hosting!!! AND BUY THE BOOK, because it's quite something. :-D

The Christmas Truce

If there's something that makes me cry, it's the Christmas Truce that took place during the First World War. The more I think about it, the more it strikes me as one of the most beautiful and one of the saddest things that ever happened in history. Every Christmas, I find myself sitting in this trance, thinking about what it must have been like - what those lads must have felt. Last Christmas, it was mentioned several times, even in Queen Elizabeth's Christmas speech, because it marked 100 years since it happened, and since then I just can't get over it. It must have been amazing, emotional, terrible, beautiful; all at the same time.

Imagine you are a soldier in the cold, stony trenches. You've seen people die, you've suffered. You've shot men of the other side, doing your duty. You've probably seen some of your very own school-friends die; you've seen wounds, heard screams of pain and nightmares. I know life in the trenches must have been ghastly. My great-grandfather served in WW1, and my father says that he would never talk about it. People were traumatized for life.

I am currently writing a story, which has a thick chapter about a soldier telling his war story. I suppose this is a good excuse to show you some snippets. 

Douglas got killed. I saw him fall down. Part of an explosion bomb hit him on the chest. I saw his hat fly into a puddle, and I saw his khaki vest drenched with blood. I thank the Lord that I didn’t see more than that. I am traumatized enough.  

Michael and I clung on to each other. But he died, too. In the gas. The last thing I saw, Jane, was his face, yelling, getting more distant in the gas. I heard him yell. “Lionel! Lionel!”

And then you had that one Christmas, in the middle of it all, when several hundreds of men decided to have peace and get together in No Man's Land. They sang Silent Night Together, the British lads and the German lads. They played football together, gave each other gifts, swapped coats and hats, lighted each other's cigarettes. They took photographs of them together, casually giving each other hugs. They wished each other a Merry Christmas.

You see now why this makes me cry? The men weren't at war, the Countries were. The men so weren't. They were just doing their duty - they could totally be best friends with the Other Side.

"First the Germans would sing one of their carols and then we would sing one of ours, until when we started up O Come, All Ye Faithful, the Germans immediately joined in singing the same hymn to the Latin words Adeste Fideles. And I thought, well, this is a most extraordinary thing — two nations singing the same carol in the middle of a war."

"I walked across to my man and shook hands, I asked him how he liked it. ‘Terrible, I wish I was back in Germany’ (in Good English!). I wanted a souvenir so I took my knife out of my pocket and he let me cut a button from his coat. I could only give him a few old biscuits from my pocket."

"Eventually the English brought a soccer ball from their trenches, and pretty soon a lively game ensued. How marvellously wonderful, yet how strange it was. The English officers felt the same way about it.

Thus Christmas, the celebration of Love, managed to bring mortal enemies together for a time... I told them we didn’t want to shoot on the Second Day of Christmas either. They agreed."

"Really you would hardly have thought we were at war. Here we were, enemy talking to enemy. They [are] like ourselves with mothers, with sweethearts, with wives waiting to welcome us home again. And to think within a few hours we shall be firing at each other again."

"They say they won’t fire tomorrow if we don’t so I suppose we shall get a bit of a holiday — perhaps. After exchanging autographs and them wishing us a Happy New Year we departed and came back and had our dinner. We can hardly believe that we’ve been firing at them for the last week or two — it all seems so strange." 

"Even as I write, I can scarcely credit what I have seen and done. It has been a wonderful day."

(Actual WW1 letters about the Christmas Truce.)

War is so pointless - so ridiculously pointless. The Christmas Truce shows that more vividly than anything else can. These chaps were just... chaps. They fought against each other, killed each other - while they should have played football together every day. Imagine what they must have felt like, when they said goodbye after their time together in no-man's-land. They must have felt so emotional; they must have looked at each other and thought, "Tomorrow I might kill you."

It just breaks me, okay? Shush. Don't talk to me. Just watch this beautiful Christmas ad about it. You will probably cry, because I always do, and I've watched it loads of times. (And the music is from 'True Grit', if that makes some of you want to see it. Heh, heh.)

"Thus Christmas, the celebration of Love, managed to bring mortal enemies together for a time..." (A WW1 letter.)

In which I swoon over Scenery+Settings

I've done posts in which I've gushed nonsensically over dresses and frills. I've done about fifty of those, when it comes to that. (Well, sliiight exaggeration is allowed now and then.) I've done posts in which I've exclaimed in - oh horrors of horrors - capital letters my fondest love for certain fictional characters. (No, I did not mention Mr Knightley in every one of those posts. Hush.) I've talked about all kinda stuff. 

But I've never really gushed over that BEAUTIFUL scenery in those movies. And those often-ignored Settings. So I am to do so now.

Okay, before we talk about ANYTHING, I'm going to point out that Cinderella has the best inside settings ever. (I haven't seen this yet, but OH I KNOW IT.)

Now we can carry on.

The Sound of Music has THE most GORGEOUS Scenery EVER. Well, I never, and all that jazz. It's all so greeny blue and bluey green and free, free and melodious. It seems to chirp out music - GAH. The Sound of Music is such a pretty movie. Remember that scene where Maria sings about the Hills being Alive, and she goes and swings between the trees? That is SO pretty.

I love that the Sound of Music ends AND starts with mountains and grassy hills. And oh, the way the wind BLOWS on the grass and makes all those RIPPLES.

God really is the most amazing artist ever.

And also the gazebo scenes. Like, it's sooo gorgeous and romantic. With all the moonlight shining through the glass, and the garden all quiet around them. Also, all the inside scenes. I know it's easy to have beautiful interior settings when the movie is about a stinking rich Sea Captain with expensive dance floors, but STILL.

Ahh, you know the scene where they DAAANCE. The Laendler dance?!! That scene's BEAUTIFUL too. :-D

Yeah, I'm going to shut up.

BUT THIS MOVIE IS BEAUTIFUL. Just look. Those white-topped mountains looking so splendid and royal above all the green hills. I want to go on a hike now.

War Horse is not my favourite movie (1. Because it's too horsey. I'm not a huge horse fan. And 2. Because it's a War movie and War movies tend to make me upset.) BUT what I have always loved about War Horse, from the first time I watched it, was the scenery. Seriously, Albert's farm was situated in the prettiest place ever.

I still want to go and live there.

Lark Rise to Candleford has SUCH gorgeous scenery! All the yellow golidness of the fields, the lovely English countryside, the villages, the forest. I. NEED. TO. VISIT. THIS. PLACE. (Gah, wouldn't it be the coolest thing ever? To be able to visit all these filming areas. I'd love to visit Lark Rise and Candleford. Of course, I'd imagine all the characters to be there, but still. :-D)

Yeah, the scenery is gorgeous.

I love also that, after a while, because you see the scenery often (seeing as there are many episodes), that you soon recognise those trees and that path. I love this show like crazy.

We just finished episode five of Season three yesterday - I've witnessed some CRAZY Minnie-Alfie cuteness (shut up you two why are you so cute and please ughhhh ahh (!!!)) and I am becoming very good friends with Daniel, who I Really Like. :-)

Testament of Youth also has some Very Exclamation Point Worthy scenery. Let the pictures speak for themselves. (Besides I am very touchy when it comes to Testament of Youth. I'd rather not talk about it. One doesn't talk about Testament of Youth. One cries about it.)

*snifffff*

And of COURSE, Downton Abbey. The show with All the actors, All the plot lines, All the quotes and All the good scenery. This show has everything and that SO includes the most perfect perfect PERFECT scenery. Possibly out of every movie, Downton Abbey has my favourite scenery.

Duh, the inside settings are wayyy to gorgeous too.

Just look. Sink in it.

I could go on and on about beautiful movie settings and beautiful movie scenery, but this shall be all for today, Jeeves. Have a lovely Sunday! :-)

Testament of Youth ~ Review

Most of you should remember my Testament of Youth pre-gushing post I did several days ago, don't you? I wrote that post when I kinda of discovered the movie 'Testament of Youth.' I described in great gusto my burning wish to watch the movie because it looked so stinking amazing. I swooned over the pictures I had endlessly pinned on Pinterest. My dear commenters shared my enthusiasm, and one of them, a certain Emily, said she had found the movie online and she sent me the link. 

I was SO HAPPY. The movie was online!?! (It still is, so grab your chance to watch it while it's there, folks.) The movie was THERE! I could watch it!?! I told my Dad that I wished VERY much to watch it as soon as possible, and he, being the good chump he is, said, 'Oh let's watch it on Saturday' and I said, 'OKAY YES LETS.' I checked the website every day to see if the movie was still there. I couldn't wait to see it.

And then I saw it!

Now, I warn you in advance, the movie online is very soft. So soft, we thought when we watched the beginning that it had no sound at all (I freaked out in quick disappointment.) Like, you-have-to-lean-close-to-catch-all-the-words soft and a-cough-of-a-fellow-watcher-will-make-you-loose-a-sentence soft. This was pretty difficult and made the movie a bit of a challenge to watch sometimes. I was straining my ears the whole way through.

But YET, I loved it.

It broke my heart. It was beautiful. It made me cry. It was just squeefully adorable and bitterly ending-wrenching-like.

Now, if you don't like sad movies, don't watch the complete movie. Watch the first half, which, in my opinion can be watched as a story on it's own, and stop at the scene where Vera and Roland fly a kite together on the cliffs near the sea, as a newly and happily engaged couple. The first half of the movie is ADORABLE and I just loved it. We watched the first half on Friday and the second half on Saturday, and I can tell you, the ways I went to bed on Friday and on Saturday were very different. On Friday I went to bed with happy feelings, thinking about the darlingness of the movie and pinning pins and gifs of the movie till it was super late. On Saturday I went to bed with knots in my neck and tears in my eyes (but more about that later.) 

So yeah, the first half. It's cosy and family-like and romantic and fuzzy-feelsy and you frankly can't do much wrong with having millions of scenes in there stored up in your head.

So, let me talk about the first part of the movie first, okay?

The story is about a young girl, perhaps nineteen, called Vera Brittain. She loves writing and desperately wants to go to Oxford university and reach a proper degree and do what she loves, but, due to being a girl, her parents have difficulty accepting the fact that their daughter is a complete bluestocking. They try to shove her onto the piano and finding-husband-thing instead, but she bluntly says that she won't ever marry. Not now. Not ever. That's pretty clear, isn't it?

Vera has a younger brother, Edmund (more about him later, folks, because he's my favouritest character ever) who often brings his two good Oxford pals with him to home. The three boys, Edmund, Victor and Roland are the kind of slap-on-the-shoulder, play-in-the-mud, gather-around-the-piano, loud, typical hungry kind of lads, and good chums, always laughing a teasing around. I loved their friendship, and the way they are all so gentlemanly to their pal's sister, Vera.

Vera often finds herself hanging around the boys, and she also finds herself attracted to Roland, who's a fellow writer and encourages her to pursue her dreams.

I really love that Roland wasn't this drop-dead handsome hero - he was very kind, funny, and he had a huge sense of duty and love. He was a bit shy, unlike Vera, and oh, their romance was just impossibly squeeful. I loved the scenes where they went out on trips and their big bustly chaperone kept on squishing in between and slapping away any physical contact.

I also love what Roland said to Vera. "You're not odd. Just Interesting." It's a new favourite quote of mine.

Roland was exactly what Vera needed, and vice-versa. Someone who was at her side about her being a writer and an Oxford student, but also someone who made her feel like a lady, someone who looked at her in beautiful ways and loved her. When he tried to put his hand on her shoulder during the cinema, with the chaperone seated between them, I decided I loved him. 

He just lovely. And a writer too! That definitely makes him more of a hero, doesn't it?

To be honest, Vera annoyed me a lot in the beginning. I loved and cried with her by the end, but I found her rather cumbersome with her snappy, direct and sigh-ing ways. Of course, she perhaps needed to speak up a bit to get what she wanted, but she could have been a bit more, um, calm, patient. 

But I did relate to her when she told a half-stammering, hint-giving Roland with a blunt sigh that she liked clarity, because I do too. And, as I said, by the end she becomes much more likeable, especially when you see what she goes through, and all that. Also she has some very adorable outfits, which helps me to like a person. Apparently. ;-P

I also absolutely loved Victor. My heart just goes out for him. He's so sweet and kind and young and innocent. He reminds me a bit of John Chivery, the way he is quietly in love with Vera and doesn't want to hurt her feelings ever. The way he looks at her with this sweet hopeful glint in his eyes. He's SO DEAR. I just want to hug him.

And when he went and pretended he had a girl, just so Vera wouldn't feel guilty. 'What's her name?' Vera asked, happy and relieved. 'Um, Molly. Yeah. She's keen.' Poor chap. 

Edward Brittain, the younger, musically talented pianish, jokester, kind-hearted chump, was my favourite character in the whole movie (followed closely by darling Victor.)

He exactly 'my' kind of guy, you know, adding the unhelpful fact that he's impossibly handsome, especially when in a khaki. I loved, loved, loved he and Vera's brother-sister relationship. I tell you, it's so beautiful. It's my favourite brother-sister relationship I've probably ever seen in a movie. I loved how they teased each other, relied on each other and clung to each other. My favourite Edward-part was when Vera gave him her letter from Oxford (which contained her results) and he read it with a solemn face and said in a solemn voice, 'You got it.' He's such a delightful tease! Such a boy. Such a dear chap. So kind and good and loyal. I loved him. :-)

So yeah, if you're not one for sad endings, stop right after Vera and Roland's engagement scene - which, by the by, is the most adorable thing ever because they sit there and talk about the white dress and the wedding guests and the cake with tears in their eyes, together alone looking from a cliff to the sea underneath. I know. Aww. - and you're good.

Because as you go on, you'll - heh - notice more and more that this movie has a likely chance of breaking your heart. Because, I warn you, it hasn't got a good ending. Not even rather good. You only get a bit of hope - hope from nature, hope from spring - but nothing that will fully satisfy you. Due to the unwantingness of spoilers, I won't tell you WHAT the sad ending is, but if you'll ask me in the comments I will be happy to oblige you with a tear-filled answer.

Because this movie is really SAD. That's a true war-story for you.

Vera's brother, her fiancé, Victor and all the other friends of her brothers all go off to fight. Vera feels she is wasting away her time and work in Oxford between all the rows and rows of books, and she goes and becomes a nurse. She sees how the war affects lives. She sees the endless lists of names of passed loved-ones in the newspaper. She becomes more broken and broken and sadder and sadder every day. 

It's like the world is peeling off at her sides and she can't do anything to keep her loved ones safe.

Vera ends up having to care for a bunch of wounded Germans. She sees how they cry and talk about their mothers and loved ones just like the English soldiers do. She sees them die too. She sees fields and fields of wounded men, English or German, it doesn't matter. They are all the same, she learns. They all have loved ones, and they all have feelings. They all have a right to live, all the same.

There was this one scene that got me the most. When she goes and looks between the dead bodies to find her brother and realises he is, in fact still alive. She manages to nurse him back to life and she rocks him in his arms as he cries about all the things he had seen. Vera sees how this war is affecting the lives of these young men - many just teenagers. How they shiver and have thoughts that haunt and depress them.

Man, are you crying yet? 

This movie made me weep. My heart was crying and my eyes were a definite wet. I was in need of tissues, especially afterwards, when I re-and-re-thought about the movie in my bed. I imagined what it would be like to say goodbye to my brother, or my father, or my cousin. Or my fiancé (not that I have one, I just imagined it and I happen to have a rather good one. Imagination. Not fiancé.) I mean just THINK. How horrible would it be if you know that every time the postman comes, or the telephone rings it might tell you that one of those lads you have so many memories of and love for might be dead?!

This movie made me really realise what a huge thing that war was. It's definitely a Testament of Youth. Such a sudden death, or change of life, at such a young age!

Wow. I just am stunned by how this movie is made and I highly recommend it.

I was also very pleased with how family-friendly it was, as other people have mentioned. There was perhaps a taaaad to many kisses to my taste (let's just say my brother started talking about random things whenever they kissed) and, of course, there are wounds and dead people (I turned my head twice, just because) but I think it's more of a 12+ movie than a 13+ movie, to be honest. It's extremely good.

The scenery was absolutely, utterly gorgeous, even on the small dusty laptop screen we watched it on. I just want to LIVE where the Brittain's live (in Britain, haha.) And the scenery around Roland's house (who, by the way, has a mother who was acted by Caroline Bingley which made me squeal) was AMAHZING too, with the seaside brushing and waving underneath the green cliffs. Also, the scenery of the lovely brown buildings at Oxford made me sigh.

And the interiors were impossibly gorgeous! I basically want Vera's bedroom - it's so pretty. And the library at Oxford!!! PLEASE. It's just impossible how gorgeous the library there was. *thud*

The costumes were BEAUTIFUL and 100% accurate. They reminded me a lot of the Downton Abbey costumes. In fact, I spotted that Vera wore two Edith's blouses in Series Two. Like, hello Vera, that's EDITH'S wardrobe, not yours! :-) Haha. Look, the one she's wearing in that picture above is the same as this one, and she also wore this one.

Also, all the other girls at Oxford were so deliciously late-Edwardian, with their blouses and low buns or long braids, and their shirt-waists and ties. They reminded me of pictures like this and this and this. There was a lot of costume-envy from my side, suffice to say. Especially when Vera's beautiful pink dress came on show. I'm talking about the pink dress in the first picture of this post. (Yes, do scroll up to have a better look. I'll wait.)

HIGHLY recommended. But don't say I didn't warn you about crying, okay?

*goes away with a knot in her neck*

Testament of Youth - that pre-gushing post

GUYS.

GUYS.

*insert about three million squeals and about three million tears both of sadness and heart-feelsies and joy* Have you heard about this new movie?!!! Have you?! Have you? It's called 'Testament of Youth' and it's seriously one the way to become like, my favourite movie ever (after P&P. Haha.) I want to watch it sooo badly. Just as bad as I want to see 'Cinderella' and 'A Royal Night out' and all those other movies I keep on gushing about before having seen the movie. Because that's how I do things, just in case you didn't notice. I gush about movies before actually watching them. I have quite a lot of pre-gushing posts on here. *giggle*

Seriously, this movie is going to be perfect. The sneak-peak scenes and the wow-factor trailer and all the gorgeous-swamped pictures and screencaps are already giving me serious issues. I'm having butterflies of the sheer beauty and sadness of this movie.

I JUST WANT TO WATCH IT. Okay?!!!

I believe I have like, really vaguely talked about this movie on another post of mine (or probably just some pre-pre-squealing in the comments) but it has only SERIOUSLY started - my want-to-see-ness, that is - these last few days. I've discovered it looks like exactly the kind of movie where I will cry my head off whilst watching it - the kind of movie I'm going to over-and-over-think about like crazy. The kind of heart-tearing with real-ness and beauty-movie.

I basically want to be Vera Brittain already.

As far as I know, the story is about a girl called Vera who wants to be a writer and goes to Oxford university. Then the First World War breaks out and, because she wants to be as close as possible to her brothers and love interest, she trains to become a nurse. SOUNDS GOOD, HUH?!! I mean, a writer. That means, I'm IN. And I love War stories - they somehow always manage charm and bewitch the life out of me. And then the romantic feels. And men in khaki uniforms! I love those war khaki uniforms.

Okay, I know this movie is going to be sad, because yeah, the War, but I'm willing to sacrifice myself for that. I just know I would love it. :)

As far as I know, there are no major sexual inappropiate-ness, but the movie is rated 13+ for bloody and gruesome war scenes - Vera being a nurse, rather a lot of wounds are being shown.

The cast is also, superb! Emily Watson (once again! She seems to be popping in every single movie recently, don't ya think?), Hayley Atwell (Cinderella, Mansfield Park), Nicholas Farrell (Amazing Grace, Chariots of Fire) and several others. The pictures of the young men look very sweet and gentlemanly, and the costumes are GORGEOUS. It's just as beautiful as Downton Abbey, you guys, historically accurate and EVERYTHING.

It's going to be gorgeous. :-) Just look at the hat! And, because of viewing the trailer and sneak-peak scenes, I know it has a beautiful darling romance, gorgeous lacy costumes, a teary good-bye scene at a railway station, a super darling brother-sister relationship,  beautiful English scenery, letters, and epic heart-moving lines and filming effects.

And quotes, too. I think it'll be very quotable.

Just look at it. I really love khaki uniforms. They make men look, like, 100 times more handsome, immediately. 

Yeah, I know it's weird of me to be SO gushing over a movie when I haven't even seen it yet, but hey, I HAVE seen the trailer and all the avaliable scenes and all the pictures on Pinterest, so I think I've tasted the general idea of the movie. It's going to be amazing, I feel it.

Have you seen this?

What are your pre-opinions?