Dictators and twisted ideological movements have been the causes of terrible things. And they are still very much alive, in one way or another. But despite the seriousness of the topic, they have not been safe from parody and satire in the film industry. Take the immortal Charlie Chaplin as an example. The issues and message of his political satire from the 1940 The Great Dictator are relevant to this day in many places in the world.

That is why in 2019, it was the turn of a New Zealand filmmaker Taika Waititi to try his hand at a new rendition of the German moustached monster. In Jojo Rabbit, the Second World War in the Nazi Reich is perceived through the eyes of a 10-year-old sympathizer Jojo. But upon finding that his mother hides a Jewish girl in their house, he starts to doubt his ideology – and the words of his imaginary friend, Adolf Hitler himself. With a signature Waititi balance, Jojo Rabbit mixes depth with quirk humor – and let me tell you one thing. The words “heil Hitler” have never been (so) funny. 

There goes Hitler (out of the window)

Despite generating mostly positive reviews, it is not hard to see why Jojo Rabbit isn’t a film to everyone’s taste. Forget its qualities – whether you like the film or not, the decision will mostly be based on taste and boundaries in one’s humor. Not everyone will think that it is appropriate to take nazism and antisemitism so lightly that you reduce the swastika to a fitness position in a Nazi kid day camp. But paradoxically, the prevalence of humor in the film does not mean the topic is not taken seriously. The very opposite – the film just happens to tackle the far-right ideologies in an unusual, yet smart way. 

The quirky humor of the film is ruthless to sympathizers of the Nazi Reich and what it stood for. Its effect is especially strong when it comes to targeting the inevitable shortcomings. Some of the characters are openly in defiance to the ideology. But the film rarely takes the rest of the characters – and viewers, by implication – by the hand and points out that antisemitism is wrong. It lets us figure it out for ourselves and trusts us to be smart enough to recognize that it does not perpetuate stereotypes. It merely brings them to, for some viewers perhaps too uncomfortable, light to show how utterly, ridiculously misguided they are. Unfortunately, if this approach is misunderstood, Jojo Rabbit loses much of its significance and relevance in unveiling just how shaky the foundations of the poisonous ideologies are.   

And the Oscar goes to…

Even though Jojo Rabbit got several Oscar nominations, it only brought home the one for Best Adapted Screenplay. Rightly so. The screenplay, based on a book Caging Skies by Christine Leunens, is a beautiful mix – witty, quirky, at times outrageously funny, and poignant. The film often balanced humor and tension in the very same scenes, but it was sometimes too easy to distance oneself from the grim reality of war. However, the closing third brought the inevitable realization – both for the viewers and Jojo – that there really is a war and atrocity all around. It could no longer be suppressed by Jojo’s simplistic view of the world. There is a beautifully executed move to a deeper, more emotional sphere of the film and the relationships between characters. And you feel things. And cry. A lot.  

Yes, many of the characters in the film are meant as caricatures. They aid both the humor of the film and its educational purpose to uncover nazism as pervasive but oh so ignorant. The true heart of the movie, however, lies in the humanity of the characters. The case of a war movie can very easily slide into a good guy-bad guy dichotomy. The strength of Jojo Rabbit is in the complexity of characters. There is a mix of uncertainty, confusion, good intentions, bad decisions, selfishness and selflessness only an ongoing war can bring. Luckily, the acting matched the quality of the screenplay. Scarlett Johansson is an all-around warm presence in the film from her heart-warming smile to the soles of her signature red shoes (sniff!). Roman Griffin Davis gives a very true performance, and Sam Rockwell, despite the small size of his role, delivers one of the biggest emotional impacts of the film.

Balls or heart?

A pleasant surprise was the fact that the main controversial point of the film, the presence of fictionalized version of Hitler himself, did not get stuck in a parody position. Waititi watched his rendition of Hitler and gave him significant development from a goofy, fraternal presence to a full-blown insecure dictator we all know and hate. This mirrored Jojo’s eventual realization that Hitler should not be heiled – but he should, in fact, fuck off.

Jojo Rabbit is simply a wonderful movie. However controversial it may seem, there is just no way around it. While a great comedy, I won’t remember it because of its outrageous and quirky humor – well, not only for it. It takes balls to play and ridicule Hitler, but to make a movie like this also takes a lot of heart. 

And heart’s what makes the movie so special. 

TL;DR: Jojo Rabbit is a 2019 satire on nazism and antisemitism through the eyes of a ten-year-old boy with a very special imaginary friend. Well-written and well-acted, the film is a mix of daring and outrageous humor and tender moments of depth. While Adolf Hitler jumping out of the window and extremely liberal use of “heil Hitler” is what sticks out the most, what viewers will carry with them is the incredibly touching heart of the film. 

10/10