January 6, 2020Written by ROSSHEPBURN91
In 1940 Writer, director and all round genius Charlie Chaplin would release a film that was against the current problems of the world. Attacking Anti Semitism, Facism, Mussolini and Hitler, in a satirical comedy involving silent slapstick comedy scenes merged with the harsh brutal realism for its time for the world they were living in but ultimately finishing with one of the strongest messages of hope in a speech that people still sight as being the greatest speech ever written. This was the great dictator.
Made as a protest about finding out that Hitler was a massive fan of the work of Chaplin. Chaplin who for his time was what we know as a socialist now. To the point that in his autobiography he admitted that he wouldn’t have made the film if he didn’t learn about the horrors of the concentration camps.
Chaplin won over his audiences and critics alike with this film. Not only for his impressive visuals and incredible dialogue given at the end of the film, but to this day it is regarded as an impressive piece of cinema that shows the cultural importance of a film like that at the time was needed the most….
Now almost 80 years later, a new film would come out. With a completely similar message but with an amazingly heart warming and hilariously well written and directed film that shows that even in today’s time more than ever, we need a film that pokes fun at the absurdity of hate and the real hope that people have. This is JoJo Rabbit. And you need to see this film. Particularly now.
Jojo Rabbit is a World War II satire that follows a lonely German boy named Jojo (Roman Griffin Davis) whose world view is turned upside down when he discovers his single mother (Scarlett Johansson) is hiding a young Jewish girl (Thomasin McKenzie) in their attic. Aided only by his idiotic imaginary friend, Adolf Hitler.
Now Taika Watitti is fresh in current Hollywood cinema. With the cult success of what we do in the shadows and Hunt for the wilder people, he got his chance to direct a massive hollywood budget film. This lead him to directing Thor Ragnarock. Ultimately the best in the marvel films (in my opinion). After all this success it has lead to make a film which he described as one of his most difficult selling films he’s had to describe.
It’s easy to understand from across the table. The idea of following a story about a young boy who has bought into the nazi propoganda that would have him have an imaganiary best friend in Hitler, who comes across a jew hiding in his house and its a comedy sounds like the most difficult sell on the planet.
However the film got sold and thankfully we got this masterpiece of a film. JoJo Rabbit balances the humour of Waititti’s style wonderfully with his down to earth and brilliantly performed characters, while showing the heartbreaking realities that affect the lives and situations that follows everyone around Germany in the second world war.
The young actors in this film are just incredible. I would put them up there with the performers from the first IT film. If not better. You understand that underneath this facade of hate that has been teaching them from their young age, they still have an innocence and an adolescence of growing up. We watch young JoJo learning grow out of it through his Jewish storaway he has living with him but more than living in the nightmare of what hate can lead to in his own life.
The humour and comedy in this film is fantastic. You can go along with the absurdity of how stupid and real this all was and just laugh at how the parody of these people and situations. It’s married with the amazing visuals capturing the war torn Germany going on around the world of little JoJo.
The serious scenes in this film are powerful and terrific, they are able to capture a moment of a childhood innocence capturing the pain and heartache caused by the horror going on around him. To a point that you go from laughing at some great gag one minute to remember that this was something that happened. This isn’t a set piece in a tightly written script. This poking fun at the most extreme cases of hate that ever happened while reminding you the hate was real and it was ruining lives.
But then the film ends. And then a strong message of hope and solidarity is expressed in the only way that Waititti can show hope. I won’t spoil it but you will leave the film smiling and knowing that in the right way the world can be a better place
To me it would have been much easier to describe this as a brilliant comedy, up there with some Waititti’s other work. But he really has made something so important right now. It’s giving us the freedom to laugh and joke about the stupidity of the hate that’s going on in the world right now and how the ultimate antidote to all of this is by rising above and showing that we are better than the hate that evil tries to distribute.
It’s a hopeful reminder that the will and hope of people are stronger than a few bad words and pointed fingers of enemies and reminds us that we don’t need to buy into a world we don’t want and follow something we don’t believe it. All the while laughing at how stupid it is for it to even attempt to try and win. I love this film. And i hope you do to.
We need films like JoJo Rabbit. They makes remember that nothing says to have hope better than laughing in the face of the stupidity of hate. What a masterpiece.