Jojo Rabbit
Taika Waititi's Jojo Rabbit tells the story of a 10-year-old boy, Jojo, living in Nazi Germany during its last few days. Jojo is training in the Hilter Youth program and has an imaginary friend, Adolf Hitler (Taika Waititi) who gives him encouragement and advice when he is bullied by the others. Jojo is a fanatic about his imaginary friend and the war. Taika Waititi can be described as quirky and his quirkiness builds the foundations of the movie. It is obvious Taika has taken over when the Fox Searchlight appears on the screen and a German drinking song plays instead of the traditional drums.
Jojo Rabbit's treatment of this period of history marked by mass murders is unusual and quirky. Waititi offers a fresh take on its World War II movie predecessors. Jojo Rabbit adopts a wild tone that is expected from its director Taika. He deconstructs fascist thinking and makes the propaganda filled childhood of Jojo in Germany appear innocent. There is a sense of comedy but also anxiety as audiences remember this is occurring during a dark period of history where many people were killed for being different. Jojo goes home a discovers a Jewish girl living in his walls. He then starts to ask her absurd questions about Jewish people that have been told to him by the Nazis. He wants to report her but he also realizes the effect it will have on his mother and him. He even starts to like her even though in his mind it is wrong.
The two children are mostly onscreen for a majority of the film and both work so naturally and innocent together. Their budding friendship adds a sweetness to the film. Thomasin Mackenzie is a standout in her role as Elsa. She spends the movie challenging the beliefs Jojo has grown up around. Scarlett Johansson plays Jojo's mother and brings aside to her onscreen we haven't seen in a long time. She's acting. Scarlett has ditched her action star image and plays a well-matured and thoughtful mother to 10-year-old Jojo. Supporting roles by Sam Rockwell, Alfie Allen and Rebel Wilson bring comedic relief and satire to the film. They are all absurd and ridiculous as they know they are losing the war but continue to be outrageous in their performances.
It seems unusual for a film about genocide to have tones of charm and sweetness. The movie portrays the evilness of Nazi Germany in a cartoonish light to make audiences feel okay to laugh at the absurdness of their thinking and actions. The outlandish of anti-Semitism is heavily emphasized throughout the film and makes audiences think about how this was all real many years ago. In today's world, it seems insane that one person could convince a whole country to have these absurd beliefs. Elsa is there to teach Jojo about Jewishness.
Jojo Rabbit is cute a friendly like an actual rabbit. Its two young stars steal the show. Waititi continues to bring a fresh take to Hollywood with his anti-hate satire film. No one else could do it as beautifully as Waititi.