My Thoughts on Jojo Rabbit

I've been aware of Jojo Rabbit pretty much since it was announced, and the more I heard about it, the more it really excited me. I mean Taika Waititi? Nazi satire? Taika Waititi as Hitler in a Nazi satire? I'm in! He's one of the funniest voices in cinema, and his comedies always rate highly for me, so needless to say, I was very much anticipating Jojo Rabbit. I have to say though, I'm kind of surprised by the backlash to it. I mean with a filmmaker like this doing an idea like this, it's going to be divisive, but some of the comparisons have been kind of crazy. I mean, calling it this year's Green Book? Not even close. I can see why this film might not work for everyone, because I mean it's Taika Waititi making a film where he plays a 10 year-old boy's imaginary friend who is also Hitler, but I'll admit, I have difficulty understanding anyone who says that it's an objectively bad film. But I digress. I'm not here to argue, or to respond to this movie's critics, because if Jojo Rabbit doesn't work for you, that's cool, I get it. But this story of a Hitler obsessed kid living with his mother in the Second World War finding his worldview totally turned on its head when he finds a Jewish girl hiding in the walls of his house kind of blew me away with all the force of an accidentally detonated grenade. So much so that I just kind of want to list off all the reasons I think its amazing, because I really do. I'll give a warning when I get into spoilers, because the greatest things in this film are best experienced blind, so keep an eye out for warnings when they happen

1) The comedy

I mean it should go without saying, but this film is jam-packed with jokes. They're as spirted and irreverent as you'd expect from Taika, but what I love is that this movie always remembers what it's laughing at, and why comedy is an important tool. It's used to undermine the a regime that teaches people to hate, and to outline how ridiculous some of these ideas are. Waititi's performance as a ten-year old's imagined version of Hitler is perfectly silly, doing the Mel Brooks thing of reducing this man to his most absurd elements, completely transforming him to the most ridiculous version of himself and urging an audience to laugh at him in the hope of this kind of hate never being taken seriously enough to spread like this ever again. And if that sounds heavy, then it's not giving enough credit to how energetic and entertaining this film is with its laughs. Good physical comedy and some of the funniest dialogue of the year, it's spirited and charming and well delivered, sometimes dry, sometimes dark and usually absolutely ridiculous, with pretty much every joke hitting the mark. The amount of jokes-per-scene is crazy, and the mix of big comic setpieces and individual funny lines is excellently done. It's sharp and it's silly, sometimes providing relief from the tension and sometimes just reminding you that it's good to have a laugh. But it also knows when to stop laughing, which brings me to...

2) The tone

This is obviously a comedy, but the really impressive thing here is how Waititi brings the dramatic moments to life. With a subject matter like this, it's all about knowing when to crack jokes and when to just let the moment sit, and that's absolutely what this movie does. The jokes run all throughout the film, but by easing back and examining the real world horror and the effect of hate on an impressionable mind, Waititi is reminding us why stories about hate matter, and by using story beats that are in turns purely comedic and absolutely serious, he's telling this story in a way that feels flexible and nuanced. The heavy moments here are given the right amount of weight, and he resists undercutting that with a joke. The tone was my big issue with Thor: Ragnorok, where any remotely serious moment was subverted with comedy, to the point where it stops being surprising and starts being a complete tonal mess. It's weird, because it's something that Boy excelled at, so I worried that he was losing his touch with this kind of thing. I still don't think he was a good fit for Ragnorok, but any worry that he was becoming tone-deaf is quickly put to rest by how tonally assured Jojo is. It's straight back to the sincerity of Boy, where everything is from the perspective of this incredibly earnest kid, and because of this, the comedy and drama don't feel separate, instead feeling like they have some kind of progression, flowing together and fortifying what the film has to say.  The tone here is confident and strong, starting silly and then stopping to let the darkness resonate, and when the film reaches its homestretch, the sincerity of the whole thing pays off, making it feel genuinely optimistic and resonant

3) The cast

I mean, yeah. Is this the best cast in a Taika Waititi film? I mean probably. The whole ensemble is absolutely killing it here. Scarlett Johansson is rightly being lauded for her performance as a woman who's just trying to save her son, and in many ways is the heart and soul of the film. Sam Rockwell also brings salty, dogged charm to his beleaguered officer, a character who gets a lot of laughs but like everything else here, brings a surprising amount of soul, too. Even the minor roles here are great; for the first time ever I thought that Rebel Wilson was really funny, and Stephen Merchant does so much with his one scene, the perfect blend of humour and horror. And then of course there's Waititi himself as Hitler, or Jojo's imagined version of Hitler, expressing everything in the way a kid would. I'll get into this portrayal again in a bit, because I think there is something very clever at work here, but it's probably the best he's been in one of his own films. But if you ask me, the real highlight here is the two leads, Thomasin McKenzie and Roman Griffin Davis. I already knew McKenzie was great from Leave No Trace, but she's maybe even better here, exuding humour and humanity amid the horror. She perfectly brings to life this character who's essentially had her whole life taken away from her. Like with Leave No Trace, she brings a great amout of sensitivity to the film, and here that's combined with a really sharp, defiant humour; more proof that she's one of the best young actors at the moment. And then there's Roman Griffin Davis, who gives a performance that's so good that it's crazy to believe that he's never acted before. He's the glue that holds the film together, wide-eyed and idealistic, with the film basically taking place in his world. Crazy as this film is, the main thing that makes it work is how believable Griffin Davis is. You believe it because he does, and it's his performance that makes this absolutely wild idea seem real, and ultimately, what makes it so poignant

4. Taika Waititi's Hitler

I kind of touched on it earlier, but I think Waititi's performance deserves some focus on its own, because it really is clever. He's Hitler in the mind of a ten-year old, impulsive, irrational and utterly childish, but what's clever is how he transforms over the course of the film. He stops being a silly, funny character, changing as Jojo's viewpoint starts to change. He becomes more hostile, beginning to adopt some of Hitler's actual speech pattern, and this is another deft tonal touch, and watching him go from this magical, wonderful best-friend figure to... well Hitler, is another stroke of tonally flexible genius in a film full of them. His portryal doesn't stay light for the whole film, addressing the evil and the atrocity of Hitler and letting the role he plays change accordingly. Waititi is completely mocking him the whole way through, but just like everything else, dispenses so much gravity, laughing at Hitler while also acknowledging the poisonous way he targeted impressionable young minds. It may have seemed like The Silly Hitler Film when the trailers dropped, but it becomes clear that Waititi's skilled enough to let every aspect of this film have something that resonates, and it's in the absolutely ridiculous touches that the really important messages lie

5. The soundtrack

I like The Beatles, I like Tom Waits and I absolutely love Bowie, but this film's soundtrack goes beyond just being fun to listen to. Using I Want to Hold Your Hand to illustrate Hitler's wild, Beatles-level popularity in 1940s Germany is an early masterstroke, and the soundtrack stays strong throughout. I especially love the German version of Bowie's Heroes in the film's ending, using how upbeat the song is to elevate an already satisfying finish. And then there's Michael Giacchino's score, which is definitely one of his best, entirely telling the story through music. I especially love Jojo's Theme, with the warring influences of the military (the chanting and brass fanfare) and his mother (a gentle lullaby, full of heartfelt strings) bringing the tug-of-war of the influences at work in Jojo's world to life in musical bliss. It's a great mix of songs and score that perfectly compliment the story and everything it's saying. It does what the perfect musical accompaniment should, complimenting each moment with the occasional needledrop that gives a sharp little jab of pure cleverness. Using the pop-cultural cache of some of these soundtrack choices to emphasise the scene's meaning is one of the best things a curated soundtrack can do, and that's undoubtedly something that Jojo keeps in mind with its sonic storytelling

6. The clone joke

This is one of the funniest throwaway gags in a Taika Waititi film

7. The German Shepherd joke

This is even funnier than the last one

8. The kick (spoilers)

Okay, I swear I'm not just going to break down every single joke in this film, because I already discussed why I think it's so funny, but the moment where Hitler gets kicked out of the window is just so gloriously funny and satisfyingly ridiculous, and something that only Waititi could have carried off. Also probably the best f-bomb in a 12 rated film, and just one of most hilariously blunt jokes I've seen in a film in recent memory

9. The ending (spoilers)

Even outside of the excellent needledrop, this is an amazingly powerful ending. Waititi knows when to cut a moment with comedy but he also knows when to just let it play out, and that's exactly what he does with that final dance sequence. It's an act of joyful defiance, a celebration of choosing love over hate, and after a film that has some gut-wrenching moments and some razor sharp satirical barbs, it's just a really sweet ending. It's Waititi embracing the freedom of his young Heroes and their escape from fear and uncertainity, absolutely revelling in the pure joy of this moment, finally casting the weighty subject matter aside and just letting these kids be themselves at last

10. The optimism

All of Waititi's films are upbeat in one way or another, from Boy's unvarnished glee to What We Do in the Shadows' simple silliness, Hunt For the Wilderpeople's quirky, big-hearted cool and Thor Ragnorok's colourful, pop-infused space opera, and that sheer positivity is all over Jojo. It's a film that argues that we should choose love over hate, and if that seems simple or obvious, then that's something that the film acknowledges too, suggesting that just because something's simple doesn't mean it isn't important. It takes something that's so easy to forget, but so relevant to now, providing a film full of simple optimism that proves that a little hope never goes out of fashion. It brands itself as an anti-hate satire, but it really is, completely rejecting cruelty and prejudice and hate, arguing that the path to salvation is paved with acts of kindness. There are so many small moments of goodness in Jojo that absolutely resonate, and they're the little moments of kindness that last after the credits roll. It laughs a lot at some weighty topics, but the real point of Jojo is to remind us to love before it's too late; to be kind because not doing so would lead to self-destruction. It's a deliriously irreverent plea for people to be better to each other, with an ability to see the good in the world that's as brazenly cheerful as Amélie, and if you've spent more than a minute on my blog, you'll know that's a very good thing indeed

So there you have it, ten reasons that Jojo Rabbit kind of rocked my world. Taika Waititi has kind of outdone himself with this one, and divisive as its been, I can't deny that it's maybe become my favourite of his films. It's funny as hell, razor-sharp, bursting with heart and incredibly clever. It's a really fantastic piece of satire that urges its audience to reject hate and embrace love, bolstered by fantastic performances, genuinely powerful moments, and cardboard robot costumes. Look, I get if it doesn't work for you, but I absolutely loved this movie. Jojo Rabbit is a charming, affecting, absolutely hilarious take on the forces that teach the world to hate and the love that refuses to buckle under them. It's nothing short of wonderful, and feels like exactly what the world needs right now.