3 Stars — Thought-provoking
It is uncomfortable to view a satire of the atrocities perpetrated by Adolf Hitler in World War II. Revealing the slander of the Jewish citizens by the Nazi Party in an effort to build cultural disgust, the central theme of Taika Waititi’s film is to show the ridiculous nature of such an effort. And yet it was effective.
Long before social media repeated the slanderous images and statements thousands of times, the gossip of the German culture built on an endemic anti-Semitism in a society that indoctrinated their young to believe the defamation. The warning of “Jojo Rabbit” is that it can happen again, anywhere, toward any group.
Jojo (Roman Griffin Davis) is a 10-year-old German boy whose imaginary friend is Hitler (Waititi). A creative boy with a raging fanaticism for the Nazi Party, he does not realize he is at odds with his mother, Rosie (Scarlett Johansson), until he stumbles on the fact that his mother is hiding a young Jewish woman in their attic named Elsa (Thomasin McKenzie). It is this discovery and developing relationship between the two that carry the central messages of the film.
We won’t spoil the complex nature of that relationship except to note the obvious fact that we can hold onto bias and prejudice only if we are not exposed to the truth. But when we get to know an individual about whom we have held a mistaken and corrosive opinion, the truth can then set us free, in a multitude of ways. Not the least of these freedoms comes from the realization that all humans have far more in common than our differences might imply.
This is seen when Jojo’s young friend, Yorki (Archie Yates), explains at the end of the film that the conquering Russians are coming to eat German children and rape their dogs. This dehumanizing of people we do not know is always a part of war in order to compel us to kill one another.
Although a satirical comedy, the violence and loss of innocence for Jojo are real. He lets go of his childhood fantasies and enters the real world of real people living and dying in both heroic and horrific ways. Without being an obvious theme, this includes the assistance of Captain Klenzendorf (Sam Rockwell), whose embellishing of his uniform to fight his final battle is paralleled with his removal of the uniform from Jojo to save his life.
The atrocities of humanity are difficult to explore, and satirical humor is one tool that assists in this. “Jojo Rabbit” is a great example of such a valuable tool.
Discussion
» The decision of Jojo’s parents not to tell their son that they do not support the Nazi Party puts their sensitive 10-year-old in distress. Do you think their attempt to protect him was wise? Why do you answer as you do?
» The training of the Nazi children included brutally killing an animal not for food but for conditioning. Killing an animal for pleasure is often the behavior of a child who becomes an adult with a psychopathic disorder. Do you believe that groups can, as a whole, become psychopathic and try to condition their young to dehumanize and kill? On what do you base your answer?
» The acceptance of defaming lies about a minority group within a nation or the people in another nation reveals a deep brokenness within us all. What do you think the solution to such evil could be? Where have you turned to deal with your own dehumanizing tendencies?
— Cinema in Focus is a social and spiritual movie commentary. Hal Conklin is a former mayor of Santa Barbara and Denny Wayman is the retired pastor of Free Methodist Church of Santa Barbara and lead superintendent of Free Methodist Church in Southern California. For more reviews, visit www.cinemainfocus.com, or follow them on Twitter: @CinemaInFocus. The opinions expressed are their own.