White Bird

This film deserves more attention!!!

I read the graphic novel and the novel to the film beforehand and was absolutely in love with it. So I was desperately waiting for the film to finally be released (which took ages due to several postponements, but well worth the wait.) I had very high expectations for the film and I wasn't disappointed! They were super close to the original story and masterfully turned it into a film that invites you to dream, but also moves you to tears. The film is incredibly moving and quite heartbreaking, but at the same time so incredibly beautiful and magical. I think they beautifully managed the balance between teen romance and historical narrative of nazi-occupied France in the 1940s.

I especially enjoyed Gillian Anderson's performance, which was outstanding! Although she had (as expected) a quite small role, she did once again incredibly well. And her performance really stuck with me. Especially later in the film (which I can't tell about, because I don't want to spoiler), her performance was heartbreakingly impressive and convincing.

But not only Gillian's performance was great, I was really impressed by Ariella Glaser and Orlando Schwerdt who played the main characters Sara and Julien! And come one Helen Mirren as grandmère?

So all in all a beautiful film which deserves all the praise it can get!

GO WATCH THIS FILM.

Back in 2017, a movie called WONDER (based on the 2012 book by R. J Palacio) came out, about a disfigured young boy going to public school for the first time. I actually just watched it. I really liked how they showed the story through a few characters' perspectives. Keeping with that trend, a sort-of sequel kind of spinoff has been released called WHITE BIRD (based on the 2019 graphic novel from the same author). Don't worry, you don't have to have seen WONDER to understand what's going on. This is about Julien (Bryse Gheisar), an ex-school bully who is getting a taste of his own medicine at a new preppy school. He gets a visit from his grandmother Sara (Hellen Miren), who tells him a story of her past. In 1942 France, a young Sara (Ariella Glaser) is forced into hiding from the Nazis, taken in by a classmate named Julien (Orlando Schwerdt), who has a lame leg due to polio. Him and his parents (played by Gillian Anderson and Jo Stone-Fewings) hide her in their barn. This is a good movie. The performances of the two leads are great and sparking with chemistry. I was pretty stressed throughout the experience due to the circumstances. It does have an "Anne Frank" vibe, but it's done well here. In dark times, sometimes all we need is kindness and hope. It's a little heavy-handed in some parts, but a very solid film. Remember, kindness can change somebody's life.

The expelled bully Julian from Wonder (2017) is trying to fit in hard in his new high school and is still struggling. He does feel guilty but doesn't understand why he was made to pay so much. While he is still unsure, his grandma Sara visits him from Paris and shares her life story as a little girl in the Nazi occupied France during the second World War. She shares her nightmare of being ostracized and how she is forced live a life in hiding with the help of Julian and his family. The boy turns out to be her first love as they bond over an year, helping her hide from Nazi army. Her story is the triumph of humanity, love over hate and Sara knows better that it is time to share this story with Julian, fondly named after her Julian. How he became the light of her life when her's was filled with darkness and hopes to instill the same light in Julian to help him out of his predicament.

The Wonder reference is limited to Julian as the story is entirely that of Sara in the 1940s. Needless to say, this was an out and out sob fest, unlike Wonder which had it's lighter moments. Having said that, White Bird is still a heart touching tale and a well directed one. The story got me captivated instantly though it travels through familiar tropes and the director gets on with the story immediately without wasting much time with Julian from current time. The world during the Nazi dominance was truly heartbreaking as the people turned against Jews, told through Sara and her parents' pov. The scenes where Sara and Julian test their imagination that knows no bounds, were well executed. Despite the predictability, it is still an all important film even for the current times and the stance it takes against hatred is worth a watch. Helen Mirren as Sara shines in her extended cameo while the performances by the leads just melted my heart.

I haven't the slightest idea why imdb is featuring the worst review of the bunch as a featured review. Couldn't be further from the truth.

This is not a story of the Holocaust, it's a story of hope, kindness and courage in the darkest of times. That's what it promises and that's what it delivers.

No there aren't any Nazi camps portrayed, but it is an accurate depiction of what it felt and what it meant to be a Jew in those times, alienated and fearful for your life.

I haven't seen the Wonder movie and can't compare but a 7.2 rating for this movie is absurdly low. This is one of the standout movies of 2024 for me so far, one of meaning and hope and I wouldn't mind watching it again or recommending to a friend.

So go watch it without being influenced by a discouraging review.

A film about the human spirit and how it offers us hope in times of darkness and kindness is the key that opens the door to hope. It takes courage to be kind because when kindness can cost you your life, it becomes like a miracle. A film about the human spirit and how it offers us hope in times of darkness; and kindness is the key that opens the door to hope. It takes courage to be kind because when kindness can cost you your life, it becomes like a miracle. You forget many things in life, but you never forget kindness; like love, it stays with you forever. Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only the light can do that...and Julian was Sara's light. If there is a legacy from the film, it is that we must all of us use the light within ourselves to stop the injustices of today, for only then can we be certain that the darkness of the past will never be repeated.

Sadly, with all that is happening in the world today, that is a lesson that we have not yet learnt.