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Jojo Rabbit2019 | Taika WaititiA young boy in Hitler's army finds out his mother is hiding a Jewish girl in their home.
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| Mark Bladt 2020-11-16 |  |
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With "JoJo Rabbit" Director Taika Waititi has created something as unusual as an intelligent and emotionally moving comedic drama about a boy who has Adolf Hitler as his invisible friend. Taika Waititi directs his movie with a steady professional hand from beginning to end. The movie is a touching comedy but also a drama with thrills and moments of great sadness. It never becomes boring or silly for even a single minute, even when we see Adolf Hitler eating the stuffed head of a unicorn. It holds the attention of the viewer in a steady grib from the first Heil Hitler! to the final scene with David Bowie's German language version of "Heroes". It is a unique display of the absurdity of Hitler's Germany where uniforms are made out of "paper-like materials", military exercises are held in public pools and children are delivered for Hitler's Great War like meat to the meat grinder. Every actor delivers a stellar performance, but especially the two boys Roman Griffin Davis and Archie Yates are impressive as the two Hitler Jugend friends. Everytime they are on screen they shine. Roman is the natural focus as the main character, but when the two boys are in the same scene, they instantly click and are a delight to watch playing of each other perfectly. Scarlett Johansson is simply amazing as JoJo’s mother, and I can not praise her enough. In my opinion, there is no longer any doubt that she is a very talented actress. Her character's story as the self sacrificing German mother who loves her country but hates the war and fights tirelessly for her son's moral and physical health hit me right in the feels. As usual Sam Rockwell is good and his scenes with Alfie Allen are both funny and bizare. Sam Rockwell's final scene is a testament to what Taika Waititi is capable of. Proof that the right Director is able to deliver a dark comedy about Nazi Germany that goes straight to the heart. Rockwell's scene of redemption is masterfully acted and his final desperate act of humanity is deeply touching. Without spoiling anything for those that haven't seen the movie yet Thomasin McKenzie provides a small human beacon of light and hope in the horrible darkness JoJo lives in. Together with Scarlett Johansson the two women manage in a beautiful way to provide a moral safety line that JoJo is able to cling to when he risks drowning in a sea of hatred, fanatism and despair that threatens to engulf not only him but the entire world. Finaly I need to mention the Director Taika Wititi himself. He portrays Hitler in a way we have never seen Hitler portrayed before. Hitler is a friend when things are going his way but a spoiled, impatient, annoying and selfish child when things start to fall apart. Throughout the movie as JoJo becomes a better human being, Hitler becomes more and more hysterical and childish until JoJo has his final confrontation with Hitler. JoJo Rabbit is a beautiful touching movie, that I whole heartedly recommend. I want to end this review, my first review on this homepage, with a quote from what to me stands out as the movie's strongest and most touching scene, JoJo Betzler: "What did they do?" Rosie Betzler: "They did what they could." |
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