Jojo Rabbit, a comedy about a 10 year old Nazi.

Jojo Rabbit

A comedy about a ten year old boy who loves being a Nazi. That shouldn’t work. When I first saw Jojo Rabbit, I didn’t know much about it. All I saw was a quick summary along the lines of, “A boy in Nazi Germany towards the end of WWII discovers that his mother has been helping a young Jewish girl hide out in their attic.” I thought I was about to watch a serious drama, but then it kicks off with a little boy and his imaginary friend, Hitler, and their banter. “I guess it’s a comedy,” I told myself.

This movie is very funny. Sam Rockwell and Rebel Wilson at the youth camp are hilarious. Not only is the writing witty, the physical comedy hits the right notes of goofy. My favorite side character is Yorki. He gets to have the best lines:

• “I’m going home to my mom. I need a snuggle.”
• “Guess I’m just a kid trapped in a fat kid’s body.”
• “Somehow I just keep staying alive.”
• "The Japanese are our only allies left, and between you and me, they don't really look that Aryan."

What the movie does with tone throughout the runtime is what I believe makes it a great film. The first time we see Jojo looking upon people hanging in the square, and is told that what they did is what they could, this hilarious comedy lets us know that the reality of the situation is extremely bleak. We also find out that Jojo’s father is in the war, and that his mother is having the hardest time raising a young boy who has been brainwashed by the Nazis’ propaganda. When Johansson pretends that she is her husband, it really makes me feel bad that she is alone in trying to raise a boy amidst the war, a war that she hates and knows how her country is in the wrong.

The “shoes scene”, as I like to call it, may be the largest gut punch any comedy has ever put to screen. We just had seen the most tense scene, where we think that Elsa has been found out by the Gestapo, but then gets away. There is a butterfly and nice music, and it feels like maybe everything is going to be alright. But then we see the shoes. Again, how a comedy can turn the mood so fast is where this movie earns its greatness.

The dilemma Jojo finds himself in, where he wants to be a good Nazi and turn in the hiding Jewish girl, but he knows if he does so, he, and especially his mother, would be in trouble, is quite unique. If Jojo wasn’t ten years old, I don’t think this plot would work. How can we have any feelings for someone who loves Hitler? It makes me feel bad for any youth who are raised to hate others.

So how did Taika make a movie about Nazis funny? He made sure to let the audience know that Nazis are stupid. It has a repeating gag of Hitler offering him a cigarette. If you watch this movie and get nothing out of it, at least you will know, Nazis are stupid.