Let me start off by saying that I’m a big fan of Taika Waititi’s work. Thor: Ragnarok is one of my favourite Marvel films and What We Do in the Shadows and Hunt for the Wilderpeople are comedy classics for me. I was, however, nervous when I heard about Waititi making a comedy set around Nazis and WW2. Jojo Rabbit is the first of Taika’s comedies that has a popular cast, and by that, I mean popular actors that are well known. That mixed in with the subject and the move away from being set in New Zealand and feeling like an indie film was a cause for concern for me. I was about as wrong as Hitler attempting to fight a war on both sides of Germany, Jojo Rabbit is a heartfelt hilarious tale for everyone.
Jojo Rabbit is based on the book Caging Skies by Christine Leunens which is about a young german boy named Johannes (played by Roman Griffin Davies). Johannes lives with his mother in Germany during WW2 and Johannes is a Hitler youth to the point where his imaginary friend is Hitler (Taika Waititi). Johannes gets bullied at a Nazi Youth Camp and ends up with the name Jojo Rabbit and life-changing injuries after an accident with a bomb. While Jojo is home he finds a Jewish girl, Elsa (Thomasin McKenzie), who has been hidden by his mother in the walls of his house. Jojo must decide whether to turn in Elsa as his Nazi ideals say he should or hide Elsa to protect his mother.
To make a comedy about World War 2 and Nazis there must be respect for the topic at hand. It’s a subject that could either go one way or the other in public opinion. Jojo Rabbit handles this balance by showing the caring world amongst the evil Nazi state. At the film’s core is the message about all of the people stuck in the middle of the war who don’t want a part of it.
Jojo is obsessed with his life plan of being the best Nazi he could be, hoping to be part of Hitler’s personal guards one day. His own imaginary Hitler is this crazy person that you would be the life of a party but also the person responsible for setting your house on fire, he is leading Jojo down a bad path. Once Jojo finds Elsa he begins to realise that maybe the path he is being led down isn’t the correct path.
This subject is where the film becomes the five-star film it is. The audience has come to the film for the comedy, of which there is plenty, but the audience leaves with a heartfelt tale and one of Waititi’s best yet. Amongst the comedic mayhem that is making fun of the Nazi party and all of its hail Hitlering, which the film compares to Beatlemania, is a story about acceptance, knowing/learning right from wrong and becoming your own person. Jojo has to decide whether Elsa is bad or not and begins to realise that Jews aren’t bad as he becomes at odds with himself, which is his imaginary friend Hitler.
Going into the film I didn’t expect to cry, I didn’t expect to be shocked and stunned but Waititi has done exactly that and I wasn’t alone. There are real heartfelt moments that show the effects that such a war had on the average person, the people you don’t usually hear about. This is captured beautifully by Waititi through evil yet likeable characters. Jojo’s best friend Yorki is stuck in the middle of all the fighting and becoming a Nazi. When we catch up with him he is consistently doing something ridiculously different and you realise and remember that the innocent kids in the middle of WW2 were just brainwashed and forced to follow along for the sakes of their lives and families. It’s perfectly portrayed in Jojo Rabbit than most films set in the time period which usually follow men and their struggles.
We’re in a time of cinema where comedy is tough, comedy has been the talk of recent discussions and how what an audience laughs at is changing. Audiences don’t laugh at stupid jokes anymore, they prefer intelligent jokes and that has risen up from modern television comedy. Taika Waititi’s Hitler is similar to the David Bowie ghost from the TV show Flight of the Conchords, a show Waititi directed and wrote a few episodes of. In the episode, Bowie shows up as different versions of himself giving weird advice and it is funny because of how smart it is as Bowie shows up as the different versions of himself giving advice as that version, not the previous version. Hitler in Jojo Rabbit remains an imaginary friend of Jojo as if he is totally fake and made up showing off people’s blind following of the figure. It creates a layer on top of the character which makes the comedy smarter and while the ideas are smart the overall film is quite simple.
Comedy can be smart but also silly and stupid, it’s the perfect mixture of the two that really resonates with an audience. Jojo Rabbit’s well-crafted characters are set amongst a nightmarish environment which is then mixed with silly comedy, in a more Monty Python style. The film is topped off with a story about friendship and right and wrong making the film reach both ends of the joy and heartbreak sides of cinema that audiences love.
Waititi has created a hilarious and emotional film about WW2 that can be watched by the whole family. A film that you can laugh at, you can cry over and you can watch multiple times without getting old. In a film where swastika star jumps are a thing, it’s surprising and fresh to find such a heartwarming and emotional story that’ll tug on your heartstrings whilst making you chuckle throughout.