CINEMA
WHITE BIRD (2024)
MPAA: PG13.
Release Date: 10/04/24 [Cinemas]
Genre: Drama. Family. War.
Studio: Lionsgate.
"Struggling to fit in at his new school after being expelled for his treatment of Auggie Pullman, Julian is visited by his grandmother and is transformed by the story of her attempts to escape Nazi-occupied France during World War II."
OUR MOVIE REVIEW:
White Bird is the latest adaptation of the work of R.J. Palacio, based on the 2019 graphic novel of the same name. Sticking to the author’s prior success in Wonder, White Bird is ultimately a film about choosing to be kind even in the face of adversity. Set in the time of the Nazi occupation of France, the film explores a Jewish teenager’s experience of having to hide for her safety amongst a devastating and evil atmosphere surrounding her once home.
As can be expected, this film is not an entirely pleasant experience, navigating the audience through a high stress situation around every corner. The film can be a bit dull at points, with numerous scenes having a fascinating idea of being able to transport someone to another location through the power of imagination but the execution entirely missed. These scenes entirely lacked the wonder that it should have been able to curate.
Helen Mirren’s Grand-mère tells her grandson a story about her childhood living in Nazi-occupied France. Mirren is minimally used in the film with slight narration and an introductory and outro scene for the films but her delivery really elevates the power of the story she is telling. Ariella Glaser plays the young Sara Blum who is forced to go into hiding after Nazi’s gather all the Jewish children at her school to take to concentration camps. Glaser gives a rather subdued performance, trying to garner enough strength to stay positive through her time with the Beaumiers. The Beaumiers are a family who secure Sara in their barn until they can manage to get her out of danger. Led by a terrific performance by Orlando Schwerdt as a young man named Julien, who is bullied for his condition of poliomyelitis where he has to walk around with a crutch.
Julien and Sara’s relationship is very sweet as we see it develop over time as a cautious friendship to something more. This relationship makes it all the more devastating as conditions of the times start to crumble down around their fantasies. Also amongst those within the blow of the impending devastation is Vivienne Beaumier, Julien’s mother and circumstantially Sara’s during her time with them. Gillian Anderson conveys Vivienne as a person with a huge heart on their sleeve; she wants nothing more than to see this war end with some salvation at the end. Anderson delivers a beautiful performance, one that is elevated by her continued sign of love for her son and Sara.
While Wonder had me in tears numerous times, White Bird never quite got me there. Marc Forster’s direction never quite got to the level that I was fully invested into these characters’ situation beyond hoping for their survival. The direction was rightfully bleak but the moments of serenity didn’t properly fit with the stylistic choices. Looking at Forster’s filmography, he has created some incredibly bleak and bland looking works over the years with dull colors and uninviting settings (Prime Example: Christopher Robin, A Man Called Otto).
Nevertheless, White Bird delivers an array of fantastic performances and offers an important watch for younger viewers as this is aimed prominently at the YA demographic. As a film set in the WWII time period there’s much more informative watches out there, but for the key audience this may be a solid foundation for a timely history lesson.