‘White Bird’ review: Helen Mirren tells a story of evil and hope

There’s never a bad time for stories that celebrate acts of kindness, but the current news cycle makes them all the more worthwhile. In the new film “White Bird” In cinemas on Friday, the act is of great importance: a family in Nazi-occupied France harbors a young Jewish girl whose friends and family have all been taken away.

From German director Marc Forster (“Finding Neverland”, “The Kite Runner”) “White Bird” is a lovely adaptation of RJ Palacio’s graphic novel aimed at young adults. This is also perfect for this audience – a story within a story that packs all the drama of war and young romance. Let’s just not get carried away with the idea that it’s part of anyone shared cinematic universe of kindness with the film “Wonder” by Julia Roberts and Owen Wilson, which is also based on Palacio’s work.

It is depicted as something a grandmother tells her grandson, who appears to be taking the wrong path. Helen Mirren is called Grandmère or Sara Blum, a famous artist who tells the young Julian (Bryce Gheisar) at dinner one evening what she went through during the war. Julian’s immediate, genuine interest in what his grandmother has to say is perhaps the most incredible part of this story, which involves some deus ex machina wolves. I guess it’s a starter, and Mirren is a wonderful narrator.

Ariella Glaser plays the young Sara Blum, who leads a good life in her small French town with educated, working parents Max (Ishai Golan) and Rose (Olivia Ross). She barely notices the changing tides as the war intensifies and cares more about her friends and the cute boy at school. The story points out that she barely noticed the classmate who would ultimately save her life: Julien (Orlando Schwerdt), who walks with a crutch and whose father works in the sewers. In other words, not a popular kid. In an awkward moment, the audience and Julien realize that she doesn’t even know his name.

But when the Nazis come to arrest the Jewish students at the school, he is there to help them get to his family’s estate. Gillian Anderson plays Julien’s mother Vivienne, a grounding presence but more of a supporting character until a devastating scene near the end of the film.

The young actors are very good and well cast on their path to friendship and then to first love. They get to know each other and spend time imagining a world where they aren’t confined to a barn. Your imagination will come to life through dreamy projected images.

“White Bird,” which began filming in early 2021, has been delayed several times over the past two years. Often this indicates a quality problem and the obligation to release it reluctantly anyway. But that’s not the case here: this is a very well-made film that seems to have just fallen into a kind of release limbo only partially related to the strikes.

It’s a little by the book – perhaps exactly what you’d expect from sophisticated historical fiction for young adults. Being a kind-hearted, straightforward film that might even make you shed a few tears is not a crime against cinema.

“White Bird,” a Lionsgate theatrical release Friday, is rated PG-13 by the Motion Picture Association for “thematic material, some strong violence and language.” Running time: 120 minutes. Two and a half stars out of four.