JOJO RABBIT REVIEW:

Comedy and tragedy are the touchstones of many great works of art, and both of those things can be found in New Zealand’s very own, Taika Waititi’s latest movie Jojo Rabbit.

The charm and offbeat humor of Jojo Rabbit will be familiar to anyone who has seen Waititi’s previous films, including Thor: Ragnarok, Hunt for the Wilderpeople and What We Do in the Shadows.

It is no easy task poking fun at Nazis, but using comedy as a gateway to the heart is Waititi’s specialty.

Waititi’s goofy comic sensibility adapts the novel Caging Skies by Christine Leunens into a coming-of-age story that just happens to be set in the fading days of World War II Germany. 

Ten-year-old Johannes Betzler ‘Jojo’ (Roman Griffin Davis), who lives with his mum Rosie (Johansson) in a small village and all the young boy wants is to be a soldier and to fight for his Fuhrer. The boy is heading off to Nazi camp, where young men learn to throw grenades and young women learn the importance of having Aryan babies (an instructor played by Rebel Wilson brags about having 18 so far).

His idea of fun is to learn how to throw knives and burn books while he’s at a Hitler Youth training camp in the woods,.as his imaginary friend. And he reveres the Führer so much that Adolf, played by Waititi himself, keeps popping up as his imaginary best buddy. 

But maybe Johannes isn’t the Aryan superman the Fatherland needs, after all. He may boast that he is “massively into swastikas”, but he can’t bring himself to kill a rabbit, which is why the camp instructors land him with the nickname Jojo Rabbit. When he comes home from the camp, his mother Rosie (Scarlett Johansson) doesn’t seem quite as pro-Hitler as she once was, either.

But what Jojo doesn’t know is that there is a Jewish girl hiding in a cubby hole upstairs, and that is when the film unravels into a masterpiece.

The Jew in question is played by the wonderful Thomasin McKenzie (“Leave No Trace”). We know that it is Jojo’s mother (Scarlett Johansson), who is also working for the resistance, who has hidden the girl.

But Jojo’s incredibly confused. After all, this Jew doesn’t look or act like a monster. No horns, scaly skin or live in a cave. Jojo sees a perfect opportunity to get in the Führer’s good graces by learning everything about Judaism through Elsa—like where the “Queen Jew lays her eggs.

He begins talking to her, trying to learn the truth about Jews so he can write a book, and forms a relationship that changes him from a young Hitler youth protege into just a little German boy at heart. But once the pair of reluctant housemates get talking, Johannes is forced to question whether everything he has been told about Jews is strictly true. There is even a chance that friendship will conquer fear, and love will conquer hate.

What’s strongest in Jojo Rabbit is the growing relationship between Jojo and Elsa, as he goes from despising her to becoming her friend. It’s a predictable narrative arc, but the two young actors have a palpable warmth and a blossoming friendship in a time of history that dictates that they cannot be friends just because of their race and religion.

What is that, exactly? What is Waititi trying to do here?

Its genius is in its simplicity. Once the movie is over and you think about it, it’s a wonder that no director in cinema history has attempted something like this, maybe, Chaplin, but that was a long time ago and cinema has moved on since that period.

Playing Hitler and Nazi Germany for maximum laughs is always a complicated affair. Very bad ideas, indeed.

Laughing at bullies and Nazi dictators to belittle their perceived strength and supremacy, this is such a rich storytelling vein to tap. 

And Waititi does a superb job in relishing the chance to portray one of history’s worse villains. The writer/director portrays an imaginary Hitler as a bumbling moron, always offering cigarettes to his 10-year-old buddy and suggesting very bad ideas.

Waititi isn’t playing the real thing, but a kid’s idea of the Nazi leader. He’s really just a familiar face giving voice to a child’s doubts and insecurities, complete with petulant tantrums and childish turns of phrase. Waititi’s natural charm make the gag work, and it doesn’t outstay its welcome

Johansson continues to be a revelation in roles after role. The actress is so superbly touching, and with the help of a nightly bottle of red wine, Rosie manages to stay positive and playful for the sake of her son, even though her husband has been posted to some distant country and her daughter is dead.

Plotting aside, though, the balance between light and darkness is remarkable.

There are some moments of limited complexity, especially with Johansson’s conflicted mother who knows she has to play ball with the Nazis despite her personal beliefs. It’s a delicate balancing act, begrudgingly allowing her son to train with them, unable to publicly show her repulsion, while subtly challenging his rapidly hateful worldview at home.

And the ending for Rosie is so painful to watch, and just like Jojo, Culturedemandsgeeks clammed-up tighter than a clam. It was sweet and sad and frightening all at the same time.

When you actually watch “Jojo Rabbit” you realize there is a lot to offer and to admire about Waititi’s persistence at finding our heroes in children. Once again, the director of “Boy” and “Hunt for the Wilderpeople” proves to have a gift with child actors, drawing a great performance from Davis and a nearly-movie-stealing Archie Yates as his pudgy buddy at Nazi camp.

And let us not forget, young British breakout child star Archie Yates, who plays scene-stealing Yorki, the straight-talking best friend of lead character Jojo (Roman Griffin Davis).

THE CAST:

In this, Waititi’s most star-studded lineup yet, his cast does the most to compensate for the mostly one-note characters written for them.

Likewise, the Nazi officers, including a boozy, disillusioned captain repeatedly demoted through the ranks and played by the terrific and scene-stealing, Sam Rockwell, and the three racists he’s already played in the last year, but this is seriously a better outcome for his character at the end of the film, saving Jojo’s life, not once, but twice in the film.

And a piggish Gestapo agent played by Stephen Merchant, can be innocuous in one scene and frightening in the next. But most of the time they are cartoonish fools, speaking English with on-off German accents. And the group also includes an underused Alfie Allen, and an outrageously funny performance from Australian actress, Rebel Wilson.

FINAL THOUGHTS:

Skipping back and forth between silliness and sadness, between happiness and horror, it is a film that astonishes you with its very existence. It is a feel-good comedy with children that touches on subjects about anti-Semitism and Hitler and actually succeeds in becoming a sweet, astonishing comedy with great performances from the youngest and the adult actors.

The Kiwi comic is a hot property in Hollywood and Waititi crafts a sweet, charming and often hilarious comedy, and if you want to watch an Oscar Contender, then you surely can’t go wrong with JoJo Rabbit.

5/5 STARS