Certificate: 12A
Running time: 108 minutes
Starring: Roman Griffin Davis, Thomasin McKenzie, Taika Waititi, Sam Rockwell, Scarlett Johansson
Directed by: Taika Waititi
The story: When Johannes Betzler, a ten year old boy and Hitler Youth member, discovers that his mother is hiding a Jewish girl in their house, he forced to question the validity of his beliefs. This proves even more tricky with regular interventions from his imaginary best friend - who also happens to be Adolf Hitler.
The verdict: I tend to try to avoid reading any reviews until after I’ve seen the film in question, so as not to be swayed or influenced either way. And so I found myself quite surprised upon leaving the cinema and then reading some of the criticism heaped onto Jojo Rabbit.
Jojo Rabbit appears to be a rather divisive film, with those who liked it feeling very strongly that it’s a brilliant satire and those who disliked it feeling very vehemently that it’s far too blasé about an incredibly serious subject matter. In fact, some have even gone so far as to call the film “disgraceful.”
I myself have never gone in for dark humour. I don’t enjoy bad taste jokes and I have never been the type of person who laughs at completely inappropriate things. With that being said, I can categorically say that I did not find Jojo Rabbit in the least bit offensive or inappropriate. It felt abundantly clear to me from the start of the film and throughout, that this film was verging on the ridiculous, that it was about a ten year old boy’s dissonance and it was fanciful, fantastical and farcical. Of course you could argue that using World War II and The Holocaust for comedic value and laughs is immoral and in most cases, yes it is. However, I felt that Jojo Rabbit was demonstrating to audiences the utterly ridiculousness of war and of the Nazi’s beliefs. The film invites audiences to pity the stupidity of these people and to remember the hopelessness of war - how no one really wins and everyone is affected.
I thought the performances in this film were great. Roman Griffin Davis is incredible as Jojo. He’s charming, has a brilliant screen presence and he carries the film really well - definitely someone to look out for. He’s supported by some great work from Taika Waititi, Scarlett Johansson, Sam Rockwell, Thomasin McKenzie and Alfie Allen - I don’t think there’s a bad performance in this film. I did notice that the accents slipped slightly at times, but I didn’t find that to be a major problem - it didn’t affect my enjoyment of the film.
I was engaged throughout Jojo Rabbit and enjoyed every aspect of it - from its visuals to its soundtrack. I laughed aloud several times and, though I’ve read differently, personally I found the film to be original and unique. I didn’t realise that it was based on a book, and so it would be interesting to now read the book to see how closely (or not) that it’s been adapted.
My main issue with Jojo Rabbit was the tonal change. The film begins as complete satire and is completely absurd and ridiculous. However it becomes quite serious and upsetting, it almost feels like a different film. Though I liked what happened narratively, it enhanced the story and gave it more gravitas. I’m not sure the tonal change worked as well as it could. It felt like quite an abrupt change to me, almost as if the film could be split into two.
That being said, I throughly enjoyed Jojo Rabbit. I can already imagine watching it again, and it felt like a refreshing change from anything else I’ve watched recently. Taika Waititi is proving himself to be a great filmmaker and I’m looking forward to seeing what projects he takes on next. Jojo Rabbit is definitely a thumbs up from me.
The rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
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