Review 540: Jojo Rabbit

Jojo Rabbit is a hilarious, heartfelt as well as tragic and moving comedy war film and a

Based on the book Caging Skies by Christine Leunens; During the later stages of WW II in Nazi Germany, Johannes "Jojo" Betzler (Roman Griffin Davis) is a lonely 10-year-old boy who discovers that his single mother Rosie Betzler (Scarlett Johansson) is hiding a Jewish girl Elsa Korr (Thomasin McKenzie) in their attic. Aided only by his imaginary friend - Adolf Hitler (Taika Waititi)  - Jojo must confront his blind nationalism as the war rages on.

The plot is a showcase for some truly absurdly inspired writing from Taika Waititi. His ability to take such a traumatic subject matter such Nazi Germany and make fun of it is both daring, risky, surprising and imaginative.
At its core, Jojo Rabbit is a pro-peace film. It asks us as an audience to be more tolerant of

Watching Jojo Rabbit I was reminded strangely of Quentin Tarantino's Inglorious Bastards in that they both alternate takes on the history of WWII. But whereas the former uses violence to enhance  Jojo Rabbit takes a more wide-eyed, sureal look at the

According to Taika Waititi, the central moral of Jojo Rabbit is about learning to think for yourself and not following into the trap of just following the group.

 

Another prominant theme of Jojo Rabbit is (of course) Nazism. This is pretty much a given when dealing with WWII: Jojo and the other children in the Training Camp see it in a light hearted manner and move with patriotic fervor. Nazism is shown as a belief that is strongly idolized by children. There are schools organised by German soldiers to teach them about war, such as throwing grenades and physical exercise.

 

Hegemonic and toxic masculinity are also theme expressed in Jojo Rabbit: This is most clearly evident in Jojo's desire to be a Nazi, which to do so, he

Jojo's clumsy attitude throughout the film demonstraits how he is inherently incompatible with the ideology. This allows the other characters in the film and us as an audience to eventually overlook his avowed Nazism and instead view him as a sympathetic character whose mearly misguied in his views and has a shot at redemption. Imaginary Hitler's bufoonish attitude is a way of showcasing how Hegemonic masculinity can attack itself subversively.

 

Shoes are a prominant motif in Jojo Rabbit, being featured frequently either visually or audibly. The serve as a metaphor symbolizing Jojo's coming-of-age story.

Taika Waititi's direction is  the cinematography is beautiful and captures the beauty and the wildness of Waititi's exaggerated vision of Nazi Germany, the production design is excellent (the way Nazi Germany is portrayed is certainly  the costumes are colourful, the make up is rich, the score by Michael Giacchino is majestic, the locations are stunning,

At the start of the film, Jojo is very much a follower of the Nazi regime  Roman Griffin Davis (in his acting debut) is very eduringly, charmily delightful in the role of Johannes "Jojo" Betzle. 
The film

As Jojo's mother, Rosie Betzler, Scarlett Johansson is very much the emotional centre of the film. She beautifully encapsulates the maternal  Rosie is a ray of sunshine in dark hopeless times, she doesn't allow the circumstances to keep her from being who she is which is a committed and loving parent who puts the time in to spend time with her son and create a safe and fun environment as humanly possible for her and her son.

Newcomer Thomasin McKenzie Elsa has had a life before the war so she's not just a victim, she's got so many layers: she doesn't want pity, she just wants to be able to live her life.

Taika Waititi himself is a hoot playing Adolf, Jojo's imaginary friend version of Adolf Hitler.
Because the imaginary Hitler comes from the mind of a 10-year-old boy, he can only really know what a 10-year-old boy knows, so Hitler in this is appropriately portrayed a buffoon who knows knows nothing. So he's constantly giving Jojo terrible advice.

Sam Rockwell also gets more than a few chances to shine in this film playing Captain Klenzendorf, the man in charge of the Hitler Youth camp Jojo attends. He's just such a buffoon in how he teaches Jojo and his fellow Brownies to become Nazi's and putting them in very mortal danger.
As the film goes on, however, it becomes apparent that he's a guy who hates his lot in life because he was once a high ranking memeber of the Nazi party but has now been redued to a glorified scout master.

In alot of ways Captain Klenzendorf and Adolf are almost polar opposites of each other. Whereas Adolf is someone whom Jojo initially looks up to but eventally realises isn't the best role model once he starts to question Nazi ideals, Klenzendorf initially looks down on Jojo but gradually warms up to him.

Alfie Allen, Rebel Wilson and Stephen Merchant round out the films eclectic cast with hilariously heartfelt performances

4/5.

The Anonymous Critic.