Jojo Rabbit
JOJO RABBIT © 2019 Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation.
In the wrong hands, director Taika Waititi's sixth film Jojo Rabbit becomes a dangerous and problematic venture highlighting the tone-deaf hearts and minds as well as undermining the evil and horror of Nazi Germany. Thankfully, Waititi's film is nothing of the sort and does not, for a single second, fall foul or fray into the dangerous territory that many have anticipated.
Jojo Rabbit is a visually beautiful, heartfelt and poignant look at the innocent casualties of war on three fronts: the manipulated, the freedom fighter and the victim. All crafted in an entertaining, comedic sensibility that has no restraint yet against all the odds curates a magically layered and dynamic feature. The emotion boils away in the background and as the war progress on german home soil, it slowly — but inevitably — begins to erode the surface away and show the density and weight of what is genuinely happening, specifically in the relationship of Jojo (Roman Griffin Davis) and Elsa (Thomasin McKenzie), with the latter superbly playing the heartfelt victim whose only crime is that of being Jewish.
The film is massively helped by a strong and engaging mindset of writing duo of writer/director Waititi and Christine Leunens. Both craft something unique in terms of how they build the character’s presence and, in particular, their predicament of where they have been placed in this harrowing society. On the surface, it all seems hollow and farcical but its that very genius sentiment that manipulated these very people into the lives they would live, utilised in a sort of meta display by Waititi and Leunens.
A keen eye will catch a notable distinction of characters who are not what they quite seem and the weight of each arc reveals far more to their trajectories than one would automatically assume. Sam Rockwell and Alfie Allen's relationship, for one, as Captain Klenzendorf and Finkel, respectively, is far more profound than being generic Nazis. Alternatively, the answers to why Jojo has gone down this route with specific actions of his mother, Rosie Betzler (Scarlett Johansson), knitted in with subtle and nuance.
Roman Griffin Davis as the titular Jojo is the manipulated dynamic to the picture, putting forward a charismatic and engaging performance with range and weight. The film does not shy away from showcasing he is a Nazi but it does, with the knowledge and understanding of the pressure and circumstance that brought him to that decision, explore it in the meantime.
Thus, the film is not only informative on the brainwashing that occurred but has a real and profound growth that answers both the why and how this came to be. All this dramatic gravitas and seriousness is quite brilliantly coupled with Taika Waititi himself playing a rendition of Adolf Hitler, Jojo's imaginary friend. These moments are utilised quite regularly in the film and allow the feature to breathe and pause in either side of horror or comedy.
Thankfully, said comedy does not undercut the seriousness of what is occurring. If anything, it highlights the utter absurdity and ridiculousness of Nazi prejudice without minimalising its harrowing impact. Nevertheless, if any viewer does indeed find any fault, it will be this aspect that will undeniably offend many who deem such an evil and vile symbol in history utilised merely as a joke. This controversial aspect of the film will indeed be the talking point of perhaps shallow comedic bravado but even in its childish nature, it does still have a point and purpose contextually within the film and serves as a profoundly timely remembrance that evil — no matter what size and shape — can still instil fear and hope in those are filled and without said elements in their lives.
Jojo Rabbit is released November 8th 2019 in the U.S. and January 1st 2020, in the U.K.
