Buy The Testaments Today!

by Sariah S. Wilson

I wanted to blog tonight and encourage everyone who hasn't already to buy a copy of "The Testaments of One Fold and One Shepherd."

I watched it again last night - the first time I saw it was many years ago at the Joseph Smith Memorial Building in SLC. I am one of those people who never, ever cries in movies. The Titanic was going down, everybody around me in the audience was wailing over poor Leo, and I couldn’t muster a single tear. But when I saw "Testaments" for the first time, I sobbed and sobbed.

I know that some filmmakers (*cough*RichardDutcher*cough*) slammed on “Testaments” for all sorts of reasons. I partly understand the urge to do that - now when I read a book I find myself tearing it apart as an author and not as a reader. I actually sort of miss the days when I could just enjoy myself without thinking, “Why did the author do that?” or “What a clever plot device!”

So, as I am not a sophisticated filmmaker, I enjoy all sorts of movies (including all of Richard Dutcher’s). When I first saw “Testaments,” I went with my extended family (on both sides). One of the people with me was a relative who is no longer a member of the Church (although raised in it). “Testaments” was so powerful, I was so moved by the end, that I was very thankful that they left the lights off so that I could try to compose myself before I had to leave. My relative sat next to me and while I’m sitting there with this enormous lump in my throat, mascara running down my face, my chest hurting from crying, she says, “Well, wasn’t that a nice movie?” I was stunned to discover that it hadn’t touched her at all. I remember how shocked I felt that we had just had the exact same experience, but had come out of it at total opposite ends.

So when “Testaments” became available on DVD, I had to buy it. Fortunately, one of my visiting teachers had gone to www.ldscatalog.com and discovered that you could buy a case of 30 DVDs for $1.50 each. I told her to put me down for seven. We’ve been giving away the DVDs to friends and family. My husband actually had a neat experience because of it on Easter Sunday. He felt prompted to visit a woman that he home teaches (who is also a friend of mine). We went as a family right after Church to give her a copy of the DVD. I should mention that it was a freezing day, and none of us had coats. As we rushed back to the car, a man was sitting out on his stoop smoking. He greeted my husband, wishing him a Happy Easter, and my husband returned the greeting. We got back to the car and my husband stopped, and said, “I’m supposed to give him a copy of the movie.” He grabbed one of the DVDs and went back to talk to the man. The man told him that he had actually been visited by the missionaries before and had recently been looking for a church to join, and could he come with us the next Sunday? (Needless to say, the missionaries were giddy.)

So I decided last night to watch the DVD again. My oldest son had been just a baby the last time we saw it. I thought surely, this time, I could get through the movie without turning into a mess.

What I found was that it certain parts affected me differently than they had in the past. I had a hard time with a lot of the costume choices and some of the set designs knowing what I know about ancient American peoples. I also found myself a little more impatient with the BoM fictional aspect of it - because I loved the scenes with Christ and wanted them to hurry up and get back to those.

I found the scene where the father brings his young child, a child who is racked with seizures and pain, to Christ and asks Jesus to heal him nearly overwhelming. I don’t remember it affecting me that way the first time I saw it. But as the father handed that child to Jesus, and asked him, “Help thou mine unbelief,” I lost it. I have a child that I struggle with on almost a daily basis because of his disability. I know the anguish that father felt. I know the desperation and hope that a cure could be found. I know the helplessness you feel as you are unable to help your child get better.

Despite that scene, I thought I would be ready for the end. I wouldn’t be surprised this time - I know how it ended. But the actor who plays Helam, the look on his face when he recognizes the voice, it is beyond words. No writer could capture that expression the way a filmmaker could. It touched me exactly the same way and I cried just as hard watching it in the privacy of my home as I had in the theater. I rewound it and watched it again, determined that this time I wouldn’t cry, and I still did. It’s amazing.

So, I’ve decided to give away one of my copies of “Testaments” to anyone who posts a comment in this blog's comment section. I’ll pull a winner next Saturday morning and put up the winner’s name, and you’ll need to contact me so that we can get everything worked out. If you need a topic - post about whether you’ve seen the movie already and what you thought of it, or if you haven’t seen it and now have a desperate desire to do so because it’s the movie that makes Sariah cry.