By CYNTHIA BIDDLEOMB
Los Alamos
“Jojo Rabbit” was one of the Best Picture nominees for 2019 and it’s finally coming to our town.
Should you go see it?
I had my doubts back in November whether I would be able to tolerate an upbeat film where Hitler is a young boy’s invisible friend. Throughout my lifetime, Hitler was no joking matter.
But, to be fair, Adolf Hitler is not a character in this film, which is focused instead on the experiences of a 10-year-old boy learning to reject hate during the Nazi reign over Germany. In the novel on which the screenplay is based, “Caging Skies” by Christine Leunens, there isn’t an imaginary friend; the screenwriter’s contrivance allows us to see how Jojo fully embraces the Nazi ideal, only to later reject it, and his imaginary Hitler with it.
Through the film we follow Jojo’s slow realization that his mother has quietly but courageously been resisting the Nazis.
The “Jojo” in the title is young Johannes, a new recruit to the Hitler Youth during World War II. We see his room papered with Nazi posters. Jojo is serious about being worthy of the Hitler-Jugend. But he is still young, and so awkward during the training weekend.
If it weren’t for his friend Yorki (Archie Yates) and his devoted single-mother Rosie (Scarlett Johansson who was nominated for Best Supporting Actress for this role), poor Jojo (Roman Griffin Davis) would have to give up. His efforts are noticed by Captain Klenzendorf (Sam Rockwell), a much-decorated officer put in charge of this squadron of Hitler Youth, due to being maimed in battle. Assisting Klenzendorf with the kids is Fraulein Rahm, played for comic effect by Rebel Wilson.
To say more about the plot would be to give too much away. Suffice it to say, two opposing and fully formed opinions about human worth and dignity are presented through the actions of these characters. Jojo’s invisible friend, his imaginary Adolf, is played by the film’s screenwriter and director, Taika Waititi, wearing a bit of a fat suit, and changing Nazi uniforms for each scene of the film. When challenged about making a film on this subject, the New Zealander Waititi reminded folks that his mother is one-quarter Jewish and named Cohen (his father is Maori).
Waititi wanted the film to be bright and colorful, authentic to the colors, the fashion and textiles of the war years in Germany, which most films about Nazi Germany ignore, using instead a dull color palette. Authenticity is key to Waititi’s vision for the film. All of the German equipment used, including vehicles, are genuinely from the war period in Germany. The medals on Klenzendorf’s uniform are recognizable Nazi decorations for acts of heroism. Waititi spent a couple of years researching this period in Germany and found it was vibrant and fashionable; the people were happy and expectant, even while the Third Reich was crumbling.
Should you see Jojo Rabbit? There are many reasons to do so. The film highlights how people make the most of the reality in which they live. Parallels to our time and challenges could be made. The acting is superb and the style is satirical yet bright. Jojo Rabbit is “Rated PG-13 for mature thematic content, some disturbing images, violence, and language.” You might like it!
