To prevent history from repeating itself, the stories of episodes of the Holocaust, of other genocides, and of acts of political terror and terrorism must be made known in all their horror. The best testimonies are those of survivors. But they don’t always speak up – they can’t, they don’t want to, they haven’t overcome the trauma. ‘White Bird‘, director Marc Foster’s 2023 film, depicts such a testimony. A late testimony of a Holocaust survivor. Although the film’s story, based on a graphic novel by writer R.J. Palacio, who also co-wrote the screenplay, has many predictable elements, ultimately the emotion and intensity of a fictional narrative that has its source in thousands of similar tragic stories prevails.
Sara Blum had a happy childhood in France in the 1930s. Her entire world had shattered when the Germans occupied France and her Jewish family was subjected to racial persecution, the open hostility of some of their neighbors and the threat of deportation to the death camps. Separated from her parents, the girl was hidden in a barn by the Beaumier family, whose son, Julian, had been Sara’s classmate. It was a natural gesture of humanity, but many of those around her had become non-human and this attitude of her saviors involved enormous risks, including the threat of death. Julian had also known suffering, of a different kind, being disabled due to the sequelae of polio he contracted as a child. The two teenagers are coming to age together in extreme conditions. Julian helps Sara and a love story blossoms between them in the shadow of the permanent threat. The war is nearing its end, but not all heroes will reach the day of Liberation.
The story is told in the present day by an elderly Sara Blum, who has become a famous painter, for her grandson, also named Julian. The confession is a kind of answer or life lesson for the American teenager who is in a sociability crisis at the new school where he had been transferred for disciplinary reasons. (‘White Bird‘ is a vague sequel to a film of a completely different genre). However, this is what triggers her need to speak, to share the experience, to transmit the lessons of history to the generations to come. Helen Mirren is Sara in her old age. It is not a big role, but Mirren, who is one of my favorite actresses, plays it with nobility. Another formidable actress that I love, Gillian Anderson is cast as Mrs. Beaumier, who shelters the young Sara and takes on the role of the mother from whom she had been separated. The acting creations of these two great actresses are, however, overshadowed by the two very young actors who play the roles of teenagers Sara and Julian. Their names are Ariella Glaser and Orlando Schwerdt. If they will have the chance of good castings, I predict beautiful film careers for both of them. Ariella Glaser in particular also has a very suitable physique, reminiscent of the photos left in the album of Anne Frank’s family, whose Diary was, of course, one of the sources of inspiration for ‘White Bird‘ and Sara. Despite the lack of authenticity of the movie being spoken exclusively in English and of some excessive didactic and melodramatic nuances, the film manages to bring together in a single narative thread many of the stories that must not be forgotten. This is an episode from a historical tragedy, but the message manages to be optimistic.