Jojo Rabbit

Movie, 2019, R

Premise - A young boy dreams of being a Nazi so enthusiastically that his hero, Adolf Hitler, serves as his imaginary friend. The problem is, he is not a very violent kiddo, to the point where he cannot stomach the idea of killing an animal (hence the derogatory nickname "Jojo Rabbit."). His Nazi fanaticism is further tested when he finds a Jewish girl living in his walls.


Review - What is this movie? It's a comedy, but it's a war movie, but it's farcical, but it made me cry. How did it pull off a WW2 parody without being extremely offensive, and did it succeed, or were there problematic points?

Personally I loved this movie. I love the ethical boundaries that can be pushed with parody. Parody allows us to fully explore where things go wrong, societally, and gives us a good laugh out of it. This movie delves into the mindset of a young Nazi and how such an innocent child could have such violent fantasies. It reminds us how gullible, impressionable, and generally unaware young children are. The adults in society shape who our children become, so we have a responsibility to teach kids that all people have equal worth. Empathy doesn't come as intrinsically as we would hope.

I do think the real star of the film, however, is the young Jewish girl, Elsa. I do not know the actress who played her but I thought she was wonderfully entertaining. On the reverse from Jojo, this is a young girl who has been shaped by a society telling her that she is a monster. As a result, she has given up on being desirable and is snarky, sarcastic, and a general troll to Jojo. Yet as the film progresses, Jojo cannot help but empathize because, while empathy may not come intrinsically, it doesn't take much to learn so long as you start young.

The one character who left me feeling a little bit iffy was Sam Rockwell's. There are a few sentimental moments of the film where his Nazi character could have sold them out, but instead helps cover for them. I cried a bit during these moments because they were so sweet, but it sort of brings this odd generosity to the Nazis that I'm not sure is very realistic. Yes, Nazis are and have always been human with complex lives who may have been pressured into the lifestyle. Many of them likely felt iffy about the cause. But in the end, Sam Rockwell's character is brave enough to sacrifice his life for Jojo and Elsa, and it sort of paints a very forgiving picture of Nazis that seems very extreme.

This film won the Oscar for Best Adapted Screenplay and I am in full agreement that it is extraordinarily well written. It is fantastically paced, the jokes all hit very well, it's oddly fun, and evokes very, VERY strong emotions. (94/100)

Quote - "Definitely not a good time to be a Nazi."

Also, I'm paraphrasing, but "I told you to draw where a Jew lives! You just drew an ugly picture of my head!" "Yes, because that's where they live."

What to watch for - Hitler dancing and generally acting ridiculous. True art.

If you liked this movie, I'd recommend Moonrise Kingdom! Also about young kids in a camp of sorts.

Directed by Taika Waititi
Distributed by Fox Searchlight