There’s been araging debateabout Bradley Cooper’s use of a prosthetic nose to play composer Leonard Bernstein after photos from the production of his fall biopic “Maestro” were released last week. But there has been no such backlash regarding Helen Mirren’s heavy prosthetics to play former Israeli prime minister Golda Meir in “Golda.”

And rightly so.

To be clear, the issue of cultural appropriation is a legitimate discussion to have. It is a main source of debate about Martin Scorsese’s upcoming “Killers of the Flower Moon,” and it is an issue that should have been reckoned with decades ago.

In Cooper’s case, he was accused by some of “Jewface,” which is perceived to advance antisemitic stereotypes. For Cooper, who is not Jewish, the issue was authenticity, and Bernstein’s children and the Anti-Defamation League have since rose to his defense.

But here, Mirren (the Paramount+ series“1923,”“Shazam! Fury of the Gods”and the narrator of“Barbie,”all in 2023) portrays Meir in her darkest days at the height of the 1973 Yom Kippur War with empathy and loving subtlety. It’s hard to imagine anyone doing it better, and this is territory that was once mined byIngrid Bergmanin a 1982 miniseries, “A Woman Called Golda.”

The 19-day war, in which Israel was attacked by a coalition of Arab countries led by Anwar Sadat’s Egypt, led to heavy Israeli casualties and threatened the existence of the country itself. Many of Meir’s decisions were questioned, beginning with her refusal to launch a preemptive strike once plans for an Arab attack were discovered by Israeli intelligence. Part of “Golda” is set in 1974, when Meir, who had recently resigned, faced an investigation into her role in the Israeli prosecution of the war.

“Golda,” like “Oppenheimer,” is a dialogue-heavy war film set mostly in rooms — conference rooms, underground command centers and Meir’s house, all in a cloud of constant smoke, as Meir was a champion chain-smoker. Israeli-born director Guy Nattiv, working from a sharp script from Nicholas Martin, expertly mixes in documentary footage to convey a sense of the times and the war. In some scenes, Nattiv is confident enough to let the realGolda Meirappear in footage, with cutaways to Mirren.

The supporting cast, led by French actress Camille Cottin (“Stillwater,”Netflilx’s “Call My Agent!”) as Lou Kaddar, Meir’s personal assistant and closest friend, is excellent and understated. For those who lived through the times, many familiar names appear: the eye-patched defense minister Moshe Dayan (Rami Heuberger) and future prime ministerAriel Sharon(Ohad Knoller) among them.

Then there’sLiev Schreiber’sfun-to-watch turn as Henry Kissinger, President Richard Nixon’s secretary of state, the silver-tongued strategist conveying the United States’ interests during a threatened Arab oil embargo.

Never mind that Schreiber is 6-foot-3 and would have towered over the diminutive Kissinger. In “Golda,” Meir’s biggest gamble is standing up to Kissinger. What happened next changed the course of Middle East history.

Reach G. Allen Johnson:ajohnson@sfchronicle.com