JoJo Rabbit: My Review
How is it possible to have your heart broken and full at the same time? To have your gut sore from the punches while your sides hurt with laughter?
How is it possible that I'm laughing at Adolf Hitler?!?
That's about the best way I can sum up watching "JoJo Rabbit," the latest movie by director Taika Waititi (Thor: Ragnarok, Hunt for the Wilderpeople, What We Do in the Shadows). I couldn't stop thinking about it all night, and am still thinking about it this morning.
I had people ask me what the movie's about after I told them I was excited to see it. Man, did I struggle. "It's about a kid growing up in Nazi Germany who has Adolf Hitler as an imaginary friend." The looks I got. But that's literally the story, though let me add to it a bit (no spoilers):
Johannes "JoJo" Betzler is a 10-year-old boy in Germany in the waning months of World War II. He wants to be a good, upstanding member of the Hitlerjugend (Hitler Youth), but isn't as bloodthirsty or aggressive as other boys his age. His imaginary friend version of Hitler gives him advice and encouragement from time to time. After a (hilarious) accident leaves him injured, he spends his time doing odd jobs for the Germans in his hometown. When he discovers a Jewish girl hiding from the Nazis, he is torn between wanting to learn more about the girl and Jews and why they're so "evil," and doing his "proper" duty and telling the Gestapo about the girl.
Let me say this right away: the movie does not portray Hitler in any kind of real positive light. Waititi plays the role himself, and it's meant to be an absurd caricature of Nazi Germany's leader. This Hitler is as stupid and ridiculous as the real Hitler was evil. It's satire, pure and simple.
It also portrays the Nazis generally as bumbling morons (most of those we encounter aren't fighting on the front lines for one reason or another, and so are kind of the leftovers). Sam Rockwell's Captain Klenzendorf is particularly idiotic, and utterly hilarious. We also get other caricatures of Nazi party faithful, from a fanatic Nazi youth instructor (Rebel Wilson) to a Gestapo agent (Stephen Merchant in a role I can't help but think is a parody of Major Toht from Raiders of the Lost Ark). Some people have a problem with how the Nazis are portrayed in this, and I'm not here to refute them; I personally found it to be a great mockery of their shortsightedness and closed-mindedness.
Scarlett Johannson plays JoJo's mother and does a wonderful job. She's all over the spectrum as funny, serious, thoughtful, sympathetic and kind. Thomasin McKenzie plays the Jewish girl found by JoJo, and plays her with real grit and feeling. Archie Yates playes Yorki, JoJo's best friend, and is just a delight.
By far, the most amazing and unexpected performance came from Roman Griffin Davis, who plays JoJo. I admit I'm usually very skeptical of child actors, and expect limited results from their performances. I was blown away by Davis' acting, how he captured an immense range of emotions and feelings and thoughts. He was absolutely the star of the show, as he should have been. It would have been easy and likely for another child to have been overshadowed by Waititi, or even Rockwell or Johannson, but Davis outdoes them all by far.
A note about the soundtrack: it's just perfect. It's a great mix of popular songs (often in German) and a beautiful and heart-wrenching score by Michael Giacchino (I wrote a piece about him not too long ago).
The themes of the movie - love, friendship, understanding, kindness, forgiveness - are clear, but it's not overly didactic and don't hit you over the head. There's no moment where you go, "oh, that's the moral of the story." The story is at once predictable and unexpected, taking your heart and emotions to places you wouldn't expect them to go at very unexpected times. As I said above, absolutely was my heart glowing with warmth even as it's shattering into pieces. The laughs are at times silly and goofy, but also cathartic and necessary to soften the blows to your heart and soul.
I know this won't be everyone's cup of tea, but this is absolutely one of my favorite movies of the year. So far it's second only to Avengers: Endgame (largely because of the anticipation I had for that one and how well it finished up what Marvel had been building to). And I expect it to fall short of Star Wars, because hey, have you met me?
I've come to love everything Waititi does (small sample size notwithstanding) and he completely hit it out of the park. In my book, this is a must-see and a guaranteed enjoyment.
How is it possible that I'm laughing at Adolf Hitler?!?
That's about the best way I can sum up watching "JoJo Rabbit," the latest movie by director Taika Waititi (Thor: Ragnarok, Hunt for the Wilderpeople, What We Do in the Shadows). I couldn't stop thinking about it all night, and am still thinking about it this morning.
I had people ask me what the movie's about after I told them I was excited to see it. Man, did I struggle. "It's about a kid growing up in Nazi Germany who has Adolf Hitler as an imaginary friend." The looks I got. But that's literally the story, though let me add to it a bit (no spoilers):
Johannes "JoJo" Betzler is a 10-year-old boy in Germany in the waning months of World War II. He wants to be a good, upstanding member of the Hitlerjugend (Hitler Youth), but isn't as bloodthirsty or aggressive as other boys his age. His imaginary friend version of Hitler gives him advice and encouragement from time to time. After a (hilarious) accident leaves him injured, he spends his time doing odd jobs for the Germans in his hometown. When he discovers a Jewish girl hiding from the Nazis, he is torn between wanting to learn more about the girl and Jews and why they're so "evil," and doing his "proper" duty and telling the Gestapo about the girl.
Let me say this right away: the movie does not portray Hitler in any kind of real positive light. Waititi plays the role himself, and it's meant to be an absurd caricature of Nazi Germany's leader. This Hitler is as stupid and ridiculous as the real Hitler was evil. It's satire, pure and simple.
It also portrays the Nazis generally as bumbling morons (most of those we encounter aren't fighting on the front lines for one reason or another, and so are kind of the leftovers). Sam Rockwell's Captain Klenzendorf is particularly idiotic, and utterly hilarious. We also get other caricatures of Nazi party faithful, from a fanatic Nazi youth instructor (Rebel Wilson) to a Gestapo agent (Stephen Merchant in a role I can't help but think is a parody of Major Toht from Raiders of the Lost Ark). Some people have a problem with how the Nazis are portrayed in this, and I'm not here to refute them; I personally found it to be a great mockery of their shortsightedness and closed-mindedness.
Scarlett Johannson plays JoJo's mother and does a wonderful job. She's all over the spectrum as funny, serious, thoughtful, sympathetic and kind. Thomasin McKenzie plays the Jewish girl found by JoJo, and plays her with real grit and feeling. Archie Yates playes Yorki, JoJo's best friend, and is just a delight.
By far, the most amazing and unexpected performance came from Roman Griffin Davis, who plays JoJo. I admit I'm usually very skeptical of child actors, and expect limited results from their performances. I was blown away by Davis' acting, how he captured an immense range of emotions and feelings and thoughts. He was absolutely the star of the show, as he should have been. It would have been easy and likely for another child to have been overshadowed by Waititi, or even Rockwell or Johannson, but Davis outdoes them all by far.
A note about the soundtrack: it's just perfect. It's a great mix of popular songs (often in German) and a beautiful and heart-wrenching score by Michael Giacchino (I wrote a piece about him not too long ago).
The themes of the movie - love, friendship, understanding, kindness, forgiveness - are clear, but it's not overly didactic and don't hit you over the head. There's no moment where you go, "oh, that's the moral of the story." The story is at once predictable and unexpected, taking your heart and emotions to places you wouldn't expect them to go at very unexpected times. As I said above, absolutely was my heart glowing with warmth even as it's shattering into pieces. The laughs are at times silly and goofy, but also cathartic and necessary to soften the blows to your heart and soul.
I know this won't be everyone's cup of tea, but this is absolutely one of my favorite movies of the year. So far it's second only to Avengers: Endgame (largely because of the anticipation I had for that one and how well it finished up what Marvel had been building to). And I expect it to fall short of Star Wars, because hey, have you met me?
I've come to love everything Waititi does (small sample size notwithstanding) and he completely hit it out of the park. In my book, this is a must-see and a guaranteed enjoyment.
10/10
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