Quentin Livingston
Jojo Rabbit is definitely a film that peaked people’s interest when the first trailer dropped. A slapstick comedy about a young boy whose biggest dream is to join Hitler’s youth group during World War II and grow up to become a Nazi soldier. Along the way he will have regular conversations and interactions with his only friend: his imaginary friend, who is Adolf Hitler (who is portrayed by a Jewish man in the film by the way). But Jojo’s world is turned upside down when about halfway through the movie he learns that his own mother is hiding a Jewish girl in the attic of their own home. Hilarious hijinks are bound to ensue! If that description alone makes you extremely hesitant and uncomfortable (which I cannot blame you for), I can assure you that all of these elements come together perfectly to create one of the best films of 2019.
Jojo Rabbit at its heart is a comedy, and it uses comedy to its advantage. Through its humor it actually pokes fun at Nazis and the general axis mentality during World War II. By doing so it makes any audience member understand the stupidity and nonsensicalness of Nazi beliefs. Such examples include their signature hatred of Jews and the idea that they are a superior race, and so the film actually criticizes Nazis through humor and does so brilliantly. We understand that the film is primarily saying that Nazi beliefs are so idiotic that people shouldn’t even belive them in the first place. I saw this film in a theater with people of every age demographic, and everyone was laughing hysterically throughout the movie. While I won’t say every joke lands, the vast majority of the humor is done in such an intelligent and tasteful way that it is for sure to make anyone who knows about the relevant historical events laugh and enjoy themselves.
The film also touches upon the idea of strength to the Nazis and what it meant for them to be an ideal human. The trainees would be shown as needing enough confidence to kill any living thing on command in order to be officially considered a Nazi and part of Hitler’s brigade. There are multiple scenes of the Hitler youth hopefuls going through rigorous and ridiculous training programs designed to increase their physical strength and make their mentality more obedient. Such programs would turn off practically anyone else but of course the hopefuls couldn’t be more excited to participate, adding to the film’s humor.
Another reason this film works is that we follow Jojo throughout the entire runtime. Jojo is the main character, and from the start the film asks us to sympathize and even root for a kid who proudly declares himself a Nazi. And we honestly do because for as long as Jojo remembers, he has been surrounded by Nazi propaganda and ideologies. This means that he can’t help but identify as a Nazi because he doesn’t know any better. Jojo is also shown to be a kind-hearted person, so the audience can’t help but root for him and hopes he sees the other side. Us following Jojo also plays into the films humor, since we are watching what the events of World War II are like from the perspective of an indoctrinated 10 year old boy and how one would react to the events around him. A particularly memorable moment is when Jojo is first introduced to the Jewish girl who is hiding in their attic, and as she is revealed the scene is shot, edited, and choreographed exactly like a horror movie which again works in the film’s favor as a result of the events it has established.
We then watch the relationship between Jojo and the Jewish girl develop throughout the film, which provides some of the movies best, most hilarious, and most interesting moments as Jojo learns more about Jewish people. This culminates in an extremely powerful tonal shift from comedy to tragedy towards the end that reveals the true horrors of war and Nazism to Jojo as well as the audience.
Ultimately, this is such a brilliant movie because of its intelligent comedy and satire on extremely serious subject matter as well as its universal anti-hate message. Rather than pander to certain specific groups, the movie tells everyone regardless of personal background not to discriminate or hate other people just because of a certain trait. For me, movies of this nature are a breath of fresh air in today’s politically heightened society and more should be made to serve as a way for people to unite behind issues and problems that affect us all.
Comments