Jojo Rabbit is a comedic satire film directed by Taiki Waititi (also known for his comedic direction in Thor: Ragnarok, 2017). It is a light comedy which follows the story of a 10 year old German boy, Jojo Betzler, who grows up being indoctrinated by the lies that he is told about Jewish people and what the Nazis stand for. The film shows a slapstick version of Hitler, played by the director Waititi himself, who only appears in the imagination of Jojo, acting as his patriotism for supporting Hitler. Everything Jojo is told by Hitler and he believes to be true is turned upside down when he finds a Jewish girl, Elsa, being hidden in his attic by his mother (Scarlett Johansson).
Waititi presents a coming of age story of a boy starting to doubt his beliefs on what he has been told and his fight with his familiarity of what he believes in. The imaginary Hitler is a caricature version as he only exists in the mind of Jojo; the way Hitler acts is not supposed to be the director bringing comedy to a serious subject but him presenting the way young children are brainwashed into believing things and the way that they see it in their mind at a young age. The way Waititi plays Hitler is an interesting way to point to some of the morals of the story- the imaginary Hitler is seen as a vision of his familiarity of what he has been told and believes to be true. However, Waititi tells very well that what is familiar is not always the correct thing to follow and sometimes we need to ask the right questions to find the truth.
Jojo is seen as a strong Hitler and Nazi supporter and he wishes to fight for his country and Hitler, however the humanity behind the character with his sensitive and vulnerable personality leads him to struggle being the man Hitler would want him to be. The film is called Jojo Rabbit after this nickname is given to Jojo due to the fact that he lets a rabbit go instead of shooting it. This illustrates the sensitivity in the character and how even though he is seen as another indoctrinated child for Hitler's army his childlike thoughts and feelings trump what he is told to do.
There are many characters in this film that just seem like simple characters but really have a deeper meaning to the film as you watch: Captain Klenzendorf (Sam Rockwell) who runs the local Hitler Youth Camp, Jojo's mother Rosie and Elsa (Thomasin McKenzie), the Jewish girl in the attic. All these characters play an important part in Jojo's coming of age story bringing an emotional relationship and bond between Jojo and each character, and as the story goes on we see different sides to what we first see when we meet them.
Waititi presents a very unique style to a film based on the harsh, true events of Hitler's rule and World War Two. At first many could see this film as offensive through its comedic nature, however, I would say that those jokes were used to show the truth about how the Nazis were even if it wasn't portrayed in a serious way. At first glance some may argue this is just a comedy about a German boy with Hitler as his imaginary friend, but once you watch the whole film you see that it is actually very heartfelt and emotional, and even though it is a fun movie it never forgets the serious situation that it is bringing comedy to. This film has many messages behind it, it is about family, humanity, the conflict that can be seen between reality and ideology, and how growing up means questioning what we are told. Even though during the beginning of the film these messages may not be clear once we see the progression in Jojo learning the truth we as viewers learn what Waititi is trying to make clear with this film.
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