In a normal wold a film about a kid who is a Nazi crave with an imaginary Hitler friend should not work. But then somehow ‘JoJo Rabit’ managed to do that. From the now destroyed Asgard to the World War II Germany, Taika Waititi really continued to surprise us with his takes and views of our established real and comic worlds.
‘JoJo Rabit’ is a completely different take on World War II dramas. Based on Christine Leunen’s book Caging Skies it chronicles the journey of a Germany boy who wanted to join the Nazi and his experience in the real life that shook up his world view. From a pair of resistance parents, it is weird that this boy would have Hitler as his imaginary friend growing up and aspired to become a Jew killing machine. However, in this case his brain, his heart and his body are not well coordinated (probably because of his resistance heritage) so he wound up becoming the well-known JoJo Rabbit in his hometown.
For me the most enduring and interesting part of the whole movie was his relationship with the guest in residence. How their interactions and views changed over time as hatred and lies evolved. Roman Griffin Davis played the title role and I personally thought it was a perfect casting. Beneath that innocent face was a killing machine wannabe with crazy imagination about the Jews and Hitler himself. However, the role could become very one noted if not played properly. Roman Griffin managed to portray a more layered boy in this time of world turmoil and when he came to terms with his true feelings about the world around him, the audience shared the joy of his epiphany. His relationship with the guest in the house (played by Thomasin McKenzie) and his mum (Scarlett Johansson) was well developed and sweet. They fought and resolved but the truth this he cared for both of them no matter what he said. And the letters he read to the guest regularly demonstrated the real good in him in the subtlest manner.
Scarlett Johansson as the resistance mother caring for an aspiring Nazi son hit the right note at every turn. From her protectiveness to the freedom she gave her kid to become who he wanted to be, every decision was difficult and treading on a fine line. How could you send your kid to a Nazi youth camp when you are working against the same establishment secretly? How can you direct your son to walk the right path when he had nothing but the utmost admiration for Hitler? And how can you play the role of both father and mother in one of the most conservative periods in the German history? Scarlett Johansson had proved that she could handle extremely complex characters with ease after her critical role in ‘Marriage Story’. It is a dramedy within a serious period of world history so any missteps will either render into overplay or stereotypes. Scarlett Johansson just managed to balance everything about the role.
Thomasin McKenzi as the guest in the house provided a lot of scary, stressful and comical moments for the movie. Her relationship with JoJo evolved and developed over the course of the movie. Her character also moved from a more passive role at the beginning to a more active participant of the events. Her willingness to step out of the shadows eventually provided much motivation for JoJo to understand the world around him better.
There are lots of other outstanding supporting characters in the movie. One of the most talked about was Taika Waititi’s own portrayal as Adolf (Hitler). His performance was so outstanding that at times I was worried that this would give this well-known monster of the modern history the popularity he didn’t deserve again. But that was required within the premise of the movie as for JoJo, Adolf is his aspiration, so this imaginary version of him had to show those traces, otherwise it would not be convincing. Then we have Sam Rockwell’s Captain Klenzendorf who, despite running the Youth Camp training new generations of Nazis, had the utmost care and love for JoJo. Rebel Wilson as Fraulein Rahm provided all the comic relief as Rebel Wilson could possibly provide and they were very funny.
‘JoJo Rabbit’ was a very creative take on one of the darkest histories of mankind. Whether its arrival coincides with our current world situation is an interesting topic to be investigated at another venue. However, it certainly delivered a complete package full of laughter, tears and tensions. The balance Taika Waititi managed to maintain with of all these aspects is the key to the success of this movie as a production and a piece of art.
‘JoJo Rabbit’ might not inform us about history, but it does certainly provide a good two hours of escapism from our crazy world.
