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If I were to describe the premise Jojo Rabbit to you without any prior knowledge, you would be forgiven for assuming it to be aiming at the title of edgiest comedy of all time. Director Taika Waititi, of Thor: Ragnarok (2017) and Hunt for the Wilder People (2016) fame, summed it up by recounting a pitch he made to a friend: “So, it’s about this boy in the Hitler Youth”, which was all his friend needed and wanted to hear. This is not the whole picture, however, as this narrative strikes a palpable blow against hatred and fear, and does it all while the director plays a version of Adolf Hitler, who is our protagonist’s imaginary friend.
Jojo Rabbit is based on Caging Skies, a novel by Christine Leunens, , which Waititi had recommended to him by his mother. Waititi’s’s maternal family is Jewish, and I think that he brings a genuine respect to this material. A respect that is impressive given its perceived boldness. Horrors such as the concentration camps are acknowledged, though never shown, and the film is wise to keep such things separate from the comedy. Sombre scenes are given due weight, but the comedic scenes are among the most effective. The film employs comedy as its weapon against Fascism. Waititi and co-star, Stephen Merchant framed the film in a Vanity Fair video as part of a lineage that dates back to the The Great Dictator (Charlie Chaplin, 1940). The film attacks Nazism by using the comedy to highlight the absurdity of those in power through the messages they propagate. In this film, you are never laughing at victims, only the bullies. It shows the silliness and simplistic (dare I say, childish) worldview of Fascism. This is not to say that the film trivialises the Nazis. On the contrary, it shows that the scariest thing about them was the fact that these dorks had too much power.
The film displays the difficulties of living in a fascist society for the citizens of that society, especially younger people. It is all presented through two fantastic central performances from Roman Griffin Davis and Thomasin McKenzie. They form the heart of this film and their sibling-esque rapport is endearing and heart-warming. Watching this relationship develop is life-affirming, but the film is careful not to paint the end of World War II through the tragic character of Sam Rockwell’s Captain Klenzendorf. Indeed, the film does not pull any punches depicting the struggles of single mother Rosie Betzler, played wonderfully by Scarlett Johansson.
What Waititi has delivered feels more like a mixture of Hunt for the Wilder People, The Producers (Mel Brooks, 1967), and Moone Boy (2012-2015) than Schindler’s List (Steven Spielberg, 1993), but the result is no less impactful. It is an example of the deconstructionist power of comedy and the power of understanding.
JoJo Rabbit is in Irish cinemas from January 3.
