‘White Bird: A Wonder Story’ REVIEW: A tale of kindness and courage amidst the holocaust
‘White Bird: A Wonder Story’ REVIEW: A tale of kindness and courage amidst the holocaust
Grandmère (Helen Mirren) and Julian (Bryce Gheisar) at the dining table. Photo courtesy of Ayala Malls Cinemas.
Based on the 2019 graphic novel by R.J. Palacio, White Bird: A Wonder Story acts as a companion piece to Wonder, a 2017 coming-of-age drama film centering on Auggie Pullman (Jacob Tremblay), a kid born with Treacher Collins syndrome, who becomes an unlikely hero as he enters fifth grade, showing courage and kindness despite the odds of not being accepted by society.
White Bird: A Wonder Story, on the other hand, follows Julian Albans (Bryce Gheisar), Auggie’s bully, after getting expelled from bullying and adjusting to a new school. He becomes an outsider trying to fit in. But when Grandmère (Helen Mirren), Julian’s grandmother, tells her own story of kindness and courage, Julian soon realizes that minding your own business without thinking of others isn’t necessarily the right thing to do. It’s a neat nod to how there’s another side to the story, how a bully can change for the better.
Julien (Orlando Schwerdt) and Sara (Ariella Glaser) in the woods. Photo courtesy of Ayala Malls Cinemas.
Grandmère narrates her youth in France during the Nazi occupation in 1942, and how her troubled life as Sara, a young Jewish girl (Ariella Glaser), was plagued by danger. When she avoids the German troops looking to round her up along with her Jewish schoolmates, she is sheltered by Julien Beaumier (Orlando Schwerdt), Sara’s polio-lamed classmate, in their barn.
While Julien has this subtle affection for Sara right from the get-go, his act of humility is motivated by doing good for others simply because it is the right thing to do. Sara doesn’t notice Julien while at school, not even knowing his name when they sit near each other in class. Throughout the story-within-the-story, Sara grows and learns from Julian, as they bond over time and create a world of magic and wonder in secret, along with a blossoming young romance.
Sara (Ariella Glaser) with a bird hand gesture. Photo courtesy of Ayala Malls Cinemas.
Director Marc Forster (A Man Called Otto, Christopher Robin) does know how to put the magic in the grand scheme of things. It’s a holocaust story, first and foremost, but also a reminder that there is hope and love in times of hate and trouble.
White Bird: A Wonder Story may offer a somewhat idealistic approach to harrowing events, but it still needs to be told for younger generations to learn from. The film is aimed at a younger audience after all, even as far as a perfect film recommendation to be shown in class, with a matching post-screening moral lesson discussion of course.
Even with the story being quite predictable and “in your face,” the journey of the characters is fortunately not set aside for the sake of controlling the audience’s emotions at certain dramatic moments. The film manages to pull the heartstrings despite the odds of sticking to the formula of drama-driven films.
Vivienne (Gillian Anderson) and Sara (Ariella Glaser) in the barn. Photo courtesy of Ayala Malls Cinemas.
In the end, it’s a universal story of choosing to be kind and overcoming hate in the simplest way possible. For a more Filipino semblance, White Bird: A Wonder Story captures this grandmother-grandchild dynamic of telling wondrous stories with lessons in the vein of “Mga Kuwento ni Lola Basyang.” Apart from the film’s setting, there isn’t that much to go further deep into things, as the film exists as an idealistic reminder of kindness conquering all.
White Bird: A Wonder Story is now showing exclusively at Ayala Malls Cinemas.
