Testament (film)

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Testament
DVD cover
Directed by	Lynne Littman
Produced by	Jonathan Bernstein
Written by	Carol Amen (story) John Sacret Young
Starring	Jane Alexander William Devane Rossie Harris Roxana Zal Lukas Haas Leon Ames Mako
Music by	James Horner
Cinematography	Steven Poster
Editing by	Suzanne Pettit
Distributed by	Paramount Pictures
Release date(s)	1983
Running time	90 min.
Country	U.S.A.
Language	English
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Testament is a 1983 film directed by Lynne Littman and starring Jane Alexander.

The film tells the story of how one small Bay Area town near San Francisco slowly falls apart after a nuclear war destroys outside civilization.

Based on "The Last Testament" by Carol Amen, the film script was by John Sacret Young, who would later create the television series China Beach. Jane Alexander was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actress for her performance.

In the film, Jane Alexander plays Carol Wetherly, the wife and mother of a five member family living in the small, fictional California town of Hamlin, geographically near the San Francisco Bay Area. After her husband Tom (William Devane) heads to his job in San Francisco one morning, it is hinted that the city (and most other large cities in the country) is destroyed by nuclear missiles. Carol is left to manage with her three children, Brad (Rossie Harris), Mary Liz (Roxana Zal), and Scottie (Lukas Haas). The majority of the 90 minute film focuses on the four of them trying to survive while the fabric of their community slowly deteriorates after the nuclear holocaust. The town itself has not been directly damaged or destroyed, but they face the lack of electricity and supplies, the increasing danger of nuclear fallout, and the general chaos and lawlessness as desperate people around them will do anything to survive. As the film continues, we learn that more and more people have died of radiation sickness. While some friends and neighbors leave the area for parts unknown, the Wetherlys remain.