Jojo Rabbit is a film that I knew almost nothing about going in. I remember when the film came out, I tried to go see it a couple of times, but things got in the way and I just decided it probably wasn’t worth it, and then it fell out of my mind completely until just recently.
All I knew about the film was that it was a comedy about a young boy during WWII whose imaginary friend was Hitler. But as I found out when I watched the film, that description is not accurate to the films plot in the slightest.
Set during the final year of World War II, ten-year-old Johannes ‘Jojo’ Betzler (Roman Griffin Davis) is a member of the Hitler Youth organisation and a Nazi fanatic. So much so that to help him get through tough situations his imaginary friend, a childish interpretation of Hitler (Taika Waititi) inspired by all the tall tales surrounding the Nazi leader, helps him overcome the obstacles that lay in his path.
Following an accident involving a live hand grenade, Jojo is left scarred and with a limp, with his mother (Scarlett Johansson) leaving him in the daily care of Captain Klenzendorf (Sam Rockwell) who gives him jobs such as posting Nazi propaganda around town.
Jojo soon realises however that his mother is hiding a Jewish girl, Elsa (Thomasin McKenzie) in their house. Unsure what to do, with his Nazi education telling him to report the girl to the authorities, but his knowledge that if he does so his mother will also be punished, Jojo embarks on a journey of self-education about whether the Nazi’s are actually as good as they tell people they are.
All I knew about the film was that it was a comedy about a young boy during WWII whose imaginary friend was Hitler. But as I found out when I watched the film, that description is not accurate to the films plot in the slightest.
Set during the final year of World War II, ten-year-old Johannes ‘Jojo’ Betzler (Roman Griffin Davis) is a member of the Hitler Youth organisation and a Nazi fanatic. So much so that to help him get through tough situations his imaginary friend, a childish interpretation of Hitler (Taika Waititi) inspired by all the tall tales surrounding the Nazi leader, helps him overcome the obstacles that lay in his path.
Following an accident involving a live hand grenade, Jojo is left scarred and with a limp, with his mother (Scarlett Johansson) leaving him in the daily care of Captain Klenzendorf (Sam Rockwell) who gives him jobs such as posting Nazi propaganda around town.
Jojo soon realises however that his mother is hiding a Jewish girl, Elsa (Thomasin McKenzie) in their house. Unsure what to do, with his Nazi education telling him to report the girl to the authorities, but his knowledge that if he does so his mother will also be punished, Jojo embarks on a journey of self-education about whether the Nazi’s are actually as good as they tell people they are.
Jojo Rabbit toes a fine line between hilarious and offensive that director Taika Waititi has balanced perfectly on. By all logical reasoning Jojo Rabbit shouldn’t have been made, with its portrayal of Nazi’s as the good guys for most of the film being questionable at first glance. But what makes Jojo Rabbit so effective is how it presents a German child’s perception of the last great war based off a heavily indoctrinated education. All Jojo knows is that Hitler is the bravest, strongest, and smartest man to have ever walked the Earth, that he isn’t even a mere man but a God among us; and that Jews are hideous evil creatures that take human form to trick good Germans into doing bad things. The way Jojo processes what’s happening around him appears as satire to adult audiences because we know how ridiculous these concepts are, but to a child where this is all he’s ever known it is normal. This is then contrasted with some harrowing moments where Jojo realises that the Nazi’s aren’t the good guys, and the questions and actions that come as a result of that.
With the way so much media surrounding WWII portrays Nazi Germany, it’s easy to forget that not everyone supported the Nazi party, especially towards the end of the war. Jojo Rabbit takes this into account in almost every adult character that Jojo encounters. His mother being the prime example, a woman who encourages her son’s involvement in Nazi related activities and is seemingly pro-Nazi to the people she passes in the street, but behind closed doors she is harbouring a Jew and is a member of a resistance movement that is aiding the allied forces. It can also be seen in characters like Klenzendorf, a Nazi soldier putting on a good show for the friendly neighbourhood Gestapo but is concealing his homosexuality and true feelings about the military force in which he is a member of.
This isn’t to say that all of the adult characters are innocent though. Fraulein Rahm (Rebel Wilson) for example is definitely bad to the bone, likewise for leader of the Gestapo (Stephen Merchant). But like Waititi’s Hitler, these characters are so buffoonish through the eyes of a child that despite their villainous nature, they’re extremely entertaining to have on screen. Even the allied forces are shown to have evil within them, gunning down Germans for the sake of it in the climax of the film rather than trying to discern who is actually a threat to them.
With the way so much media surrounding WWII portrays Nazi Germany, it’s easy to forget that not everyone supported the Nazi party, especially towards the end of the war. Jojo Rabbit takes this into account in almost every adult character that Jojo encounters. His mother being the prime example, a woman who encourages her son’s involvement in Nazi related activities and is seemingly pro-Nazi to the people she passes in the street, but behind closed doors she is harbouring a Jew and is a member of a resistance movement that is aiding the allied forces. It can also be seen in characters like Klenzendorf, a Nazi soldier putting on a good show for the friendly neighbourhood Gestapo but is concealing his homosexuality and true feelings about the military force in which he is a member of.
This isn’t to say that all of the adult characters are innocent though. Fraulein Rahm (Rebel Wilson) for example is definitely bad to the bone, likewise for leader of the Gestapo (Stephen Merchant). But like Waititi’s Hitler, these characters are so buffoonish through the eyes of a child that despite their villainous nature, they’re extremely entertaining to have on screen. Even the allied forces are shown to have evil within them, gunning down Germans for the sake of it in the climax of the film rather than trying to discern who is actually a threat to them.
A good portion of the film is spent building the relationship of Jojo and Elsa. The pair start out scared of each other, with Jojo threatening to report her and Elsa threatening to have him and his mother executed. But over time they bond with the simple act of education. I think these scenes contain a lot that people could learn from, that the way to solve problems of prejudice and the fear that can come with it, is to ask questions in a calm and comfortable environment. Elsa teaches Jojo about how Jewish people aren’t evil, at first by playing into the myth’s that he has been taught but slowly revealing herself to be just a person exactly like him.
McKenzie is fantastic in her role as Elsa and is arguably the film’s most captivating performer, but these scenes she shares with Griffin Davis are the film’s most engaging and heart-warming moments.
Waititi also makes the film more approachable by packing as much colour as he can into every single frame. Colour is used so extensively and is a great indicator as to where the story will go next, this mixed with some great visual motifs allows Jojo Rabbit to tell just as much story through visuals as it does with dialogue. There’s so much to take away from this film and the more you think about particular scenes the more there is to unpack and love.
The more I think about this film the more I fall in love with it. Jojo Rabbit is by far one of the best films I have seen in a long time, and I regret missing it when it was showing in the cinemas so much. It’s definitely one of my favourite films of 2019 and it’s a film I will definitely be recommending to anyone I come in to contact with from now on.
If you’re yet to see Jojo Rabbit then do yourself a favour and track down a copy. Whilst its satirical comedy may cross the line for some, I think the vast majority of people will love what Jojo Rabbit has to say on the subject of the Nazi regime; and it’s a great family comedy with a fantastic lesson for everyone young and old.
McKenzie is fantastic in her role as Elsa and is arguably the film’s most captivating performer, but these scenes she shares with Griffin Davis are the film’s most engaging and heart-warming moments.
Waititi also makes the film more approachable by packing as much colour as he can into every single frame. Colour is used so extensively and is a great indicator as to where the story will go next, this mixed with some great visual motifs allows Jojo Rabbit to tell just as much story through visuals as it does with dialogue. There’s so much to take away from this film and the more you think about particular scenes the more there is to unpack and love.
The more I think about this film the more I fall in love with it. Jojo Rabbit is by far one of the best films I have seen in a long time, and I regret missing it when it was showing in the cinemas so much. It’s definitely one of my favourite films of 2019 and it’s a film I will definitely be recommending to anyone I come in to contact with from now on.
If you’re yet to see Jojo Rabbit then do yourself a favour and track down a copy. Whilst its satirical comedy may cross the line for some, I think the vast majority of people will love what Jojo Rabbit has to say on the subject of the Nazi regime; and it’s a great family comedy with a fantastic lesson for everyone young and old.