Review by
Musanna Ahmed
Directed by: Taika Waititi
Starring: Roman Griffin Davis, Taika Waititi, Scarlett
Johansson, Thomasin McKenzie, Sam Rockwell, Alfie Allen, Rebel Wilson,
Stephen Merchant
Many critics have written about the comparisons between
Jojo Rabbit and Life is Beautiful, but Taiki Waititi’s "anti-hate satire" is just as indebted to
panto and Patch Adams. That’s to say, it’s a rather unimpactful attempt at dealing with its
serious subjects, and also not very funny, but it's not totally without
merit. At worst, it still offers three top-drawer performances and a few
good jokes.
Given the rise of Nazi sympathisers and actual swastika-bearers across the
world in recent years, it feels a bit odd to be putting a humourous spin on
such a subject but the writer/director completed his script way back in
2012, before the term 'alt-right' entered the popular lexicon. Plus, if
there’s one filmmaker who could effectively lampoon the Third Reich, it’s Mr
Waititi. Actually, that’s not true - I would have loved to see Chris Morris
try his satirical hand at this adaptation of Christine Leunens’
actually serious novel 'Caging Skies'.
It’s the height of the Second World War and a forlorn Hitler Youth, Johannes "Jojo" Beltzer (the fresh-faced Roman Griffin Davis, proving himself a phenomenal new talent), only wants to do one thing and that’s to be the best little Nazi possible. He’s guided by the hare-brained Captain Klenzendorf (Sam Rockwell fitting comfortably in the role of a doofus), who leads the young boys with his underlings Finkel (Alfie Allen), a compliantly silent type, and the coarse Fraulein Rahm (Rebel Wilson).
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Jojo’s mother Rosie (Scarlett Johansson demoing her sterling comic
abilities), on the other hand, is the absolute sweetest, a loving mother
with a warm, funny nature - how could Jojo feel lonely with such a presence
in his household? But in their attic lies another presence, a Jewish girl
named Elsa who’s being aided by Rosie, secretly a member of the Resistance
herself.
Elsa is played by Thomasin McKenzie, the breakout star of Debra Granik’s excellent Leave No Trace, and Waititi’s writing of her character is possibly the best part of the movie, forgoing the amateur default approach of making her a timid, soul-baring refugee and instead imbuing her with sarcastic, witty responses to Jojo’s ridiculous questions about Jews - in other words, Elsa’s characterisation is the most effective, pronounced attempt at satire.
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The protagonist is a blindly obedient nationalist, certainly a very real
type of child who has grown up under the most harmful ideological
influences. This type of persona could be the result of a prejudiced parent
or a prejudiced hometown, and for Jojo it’s a whole prejudiced lifestyle
expected from Germans in the early '40s. In fact, he even sees der Führer (a
pantomiming Waititi) as his imaginary friend.
In a way, this film might play better for younger audiences considering it presents a decent amount of horror (including grim images of hanging bodies) alongside the benign slapstick and undemanding spoof of Hitler. The whimsical Wes Anderson aesthetic further supports the family-friendliness as does the choice of music, including a mushy use of David Bowie’s 'Heroes'. One of the cooler needle drops is a German cover of The Beatles’ 'I Wanna Hold Your Hand' but I couldn’t help but remember when 2014 video game 'Wolfenstein: The New Order' did the Nazi reimagining of the Fab Four much better.
The subtext is that prejudice is taught, a behaviour that can be unlearned
and corrected, as Jojo gets to know Elsa and learns the enlightening,
groundbreaking lesson that she’s actually a human. The thing is, we all know
who was on the right and wrong side of history back then so the message of
"let's get to understand each other" is unchallenging. However - and I feel
lazy for even typing this platitudinal sentiment - considering the state of
the world today, we could really do with such a reminder.
Jojo Rabbit is on Disney+ UK
now.