JoJo Rabbit – 2019
This was one of those movies that I instinctively knew I was going to enjoy before I even watched it, and as has usually been the case, I was right. The trailer made it appear both fun and visually appealing. And when I finally watched the movie, I found that I was thoroughly entertained for the entire duration of the film.
The plot is simple and can be summed up pretty quickly. There is a little ten-year-old boy named Jojo, wonderfully played by Roman Griffin Davis, living in Nazi-Germany, who is a fanatic. His mother, played by Scarlet Johansson is a Jewish sympathizer who is hiding a young Jewish girl named Elsa, played by Thomasin McKenzie, behind a wall in their home. Jojo discovers her and threatens to turn her in, but she threatens him and frightens him into silence. In order to learn more about his enemy, Jojo talks to her, but ends up befriending her, and realizes that she is a good person, not at all like the Nazis would have him believe.
So most of the movie relied on child actors, which is usually a dangerous thing. And incidentally, there was one other child who really deserves to be mentioned, Archie Yates, who played Jojo’s best friend Yorkie. All the kids really did a fantastic job. And the film’s director, Taika Waititi, wisely did not break my cardinal rule of filmmaking, which states that cute for the sake of cute is never cute. Never. McKenzie really did a great job with her difficult roll.
But I’d like to focus, for a moment, on Roman Griffin Davis. This was Roman’s first film roll ever, and he really stood out as a phenomenal little actor. The roll required a wide range of emotional highs and lows and Roman made it all look easy. He was equally as memorable and impactful in moments of happiness as in moments of terror and sadness. His tears when he finds that his mother has been publicly hanged, and that he, a ten-year-old boy, is now on his own, were real and un-forced. It was a powerful moment in the movie and Roman pulled it off perfectly.
Now, back to Taika Waititi. Not only did he do a fantastic job directing the movie, but he also played a very important roll in the film, one that provided plenty of comedic moments. He played the part of Jojo’s imaginary friend, Adolf Hitler. Of course, it was an over-the-top portrayal that made the monster look like a buffoon, though he was still somehow able to retain his terrible fanaticism and ridiculous hatred of the Jews. Yes, he was funny, but the monster was always there.
And, of course, my character comments wouldn’t be complete without mentioning three well-known actors, each of whom did a great job. I’m talking about Sam Rockwell, Rebel Wilson, and Alfie Allen, playing the parts of Captain Kelnzendorf, Fraulein Rahm, and Finkel, respectively, all instructors in the Hitler Youth Camp that Jojo goes to. The more I see of Sam Rockwell, the more I like him. I liked Alfie Allen on Game of Thrones, but I have never been a fig Rebel Wilson fan. I’ve just never found her style of comedy very funny. But I will say that she didn’t seem to be doing her usual shtick here, so I liked her as well.
Captain Klenzendorf was a very interesting character, played by a skilled actor. He played the part of a sarcastic, cynical drunkard who was pro-Nazi all the way, except there were subtle hints dropped every now and then showing that he was a homosexual. And there were even a few interesting moments that suggested that he and Finkel might be attracted to each other. In the end, feeling sympathy for Jojo, he saves the boy’s life by calling him a Jew and spitting on him in front of the Allied soldiers, after which he is shot and killed. And I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention Scarlett Johansson, and her fine work. She played the caring mother perfectly, along with the frustrations of being a single parent having to hide her sympathetic activities from her fanatical son. Very well played Scarlett!
There seemed to be so many layers to the movie, its plot, its characters, and its themes. The director really knew what he was doing, making the dramatic moments powerful and memorable. And yet it was a comedy that was really funny, all the way through to the end. It was just a brilliantly crafted film! I really have no complaints, except for one. And this isn’t really even a complaint, but an inconsistency that I noticed. The little boy, Yorkie, was an eleven-year-old German boy, and yet he had a distinctly British accent. He was like a miniature Nick Frost, another actor who I have always liked.
But there were some interesting choices made in the film that almost turned it into a fantasy. Yes, there were the hilarious conversations between Jojo and the imaginary Hitler, but also, the music that was used in the movie was too modern. Taking place in the 1940s, they used Beatles music, but sung in German. And when Elsa is finally able to leave the house in freedom, she and Jojo dance, using very modern dance moves. They were interesting choices, but they gave the movie a more light-hearted feel, easily fostering the air of a comedy, rather than that of a drama about one of the darkest times in human history.