Just got out of the theatre and I enjoyed this quite a lot.
The movie does have his “voice”, doesn’t it @barstein.
I don’t know if I would recommend it though, humour can be pretty darn subjective.
Haven’t seen the movie, nor do I really know anything about it beyond what I’ve read here, but I have to say, yes, there are people who would come out of pretty much anything like this and say exactly that. I’ve had students, in college, who actually did think the Nazis “might have made a few mistakes but had the right ideas for Germany.” My father in law, once said that Hitler was just “misunderstood.” And there aren’t dyed int he wool fascist skinheads, just people who are, well, ignorant. So there are more out there than one might think.
That is not to say anything about this film, as I have not seen it.
I’m not saying that Nazis or Nazi sympathizers don’t exist; my point was that there’s nothing in this specific film that would make people think that Nazis were okay after all. And if people would have that attitude after “pretty much anything like this”, that’s clearly an issue with the person, not the movie.
Loved this. It was quite funny, but I think it actually leans pretty lightly on making the Nazis out to be buffoons and has at least as much (probably) more showing things like gallows of executed civilians, virulent racism, etc. (You might say “How can it be funny when it gets into dark territory like that?” Well, it’s not always funny. I actually cried a couple times. But it’s more comedy than it is those sorts of moments.) And Waititi is great as Hitler. Goofy and over the top at times, but retaining some of what made him such a horrible person, including a late movie rant that I swear must be a direct translation of part of one of his speeches.
Yeah, I mean, it’s no Midsommar.
I just downloaded the script for Jojo Rabbit and check out the way he introduces Hitler on page 2. So good.
The stranger leans into shot, revealing it’s none other than
Jojo’s IMAGINARY FRIEND, ADOLF HITLER. However, it’s not the
Hitler we’re all used to, he’s imaginary and therefore can
only know what Jojo knows. He’s more of a charming buffoon
who floats through life with carefree, whimsical abandon.
Just saw this at home, and I gotta say, those of you concerned that this normalizes or has fun WITH Nazis can rest assured, that’s not how it is.
The movie totally makes fun of Nazis and the ridiculous things they say, do, and think. The “heroes” of the movie are the victims of the Nazis and the main character goes through a remarkable transformation.
It’s a fun movie with Taika’s sensibility throughout, so if you like his stuff, you’ll like this.
This didn’t work for me at all. I thought the comedy was weak and the tone was a complete mess.
You can have Hogan’s Heroes or you can have Schindler’s List. You can’t have them both in the same movie.
Just seen it, beautiful film, just beautiful. Sad and uplifting at the same time, Taika is great.
I’m very excited for his next feature about the American Samoa football team which suffered a humiliating international defeat. He’s recently wrapped up filming with Michael Fassbender as the team’s coach. Below is the trailer for the documentary, Next Goal Wins, which the film is based on.
The comedy makes the tragedy more shocking and affecting. The tragedy makes the comedy more cathartic.
and don’t forget Chaplin’s Great Dictator. He even made fun of Hitler when Hitler was alive, he already had the mustache.
Or Life is Beautiful
The same here. I expected quite a lot from this movie, mostly because I loved What we do in the Shadows (probably the best comedy of the decade for me) and because I love (very) black humor - as well as making fun of nazis.
So I watched Jojo some days ago, barely smiled here and there, and the movie completely lost me after 20min or so (precisely after the HJ camp). Plus, it was reminding me a lot of Moonrise Kingdom (the two kids, the scout/HJ camp, Ed Norton/Sam Rockwell as the chieftain, the color of the image etc.), which didn’t help to make me take the “tragedy” part seriously. I liked the premises and the concept of a young German having hitler as an imaginary friend, but the movie didn’t live up to it.
This gets to my main criticism of Jojo. I enjoyed the movie overall but I feel like Taika’s style is a little too much Wes Anderson’s style and not enough his own. Shots, costumes, production design, all the way down to ending on a dance.
P.S. I shouldn’t hold it against Jojo too much, but it doesn’t help that Greta absolutely deserved the best adapted screenplay Oscar for Little Women.
Obviously I’m not against the principle of having comedy in a drama or vice versa. What I’m saying is that the particular mixture on display here does not work. The comedy is too goofy and the dramatic themes too serious. You can’t have it both ways and end up with something coherent.
YMMV, naturally.
I think it’s not just possible, but done in this very film to potent effect.
I’m surprised this has had such varied responses; I loved it. It is a unique story in that it really tries to stay in Jojo’s head and his perspective is super limited throughout. I think it helps to take the position that the comedy is kind of incidental to the tragedy in this story, the same as in Romeo and Juliet. The movie illustrates well that the daily operation of the Nazi state at the lowest level relied on people behaving like assholes, and Jojo realizing this and learning to reject the superficial appeal of it.
“You’re not a Nazi, Jojo. You’re a 10-year-old kid who likes dressing up in a funny uniform and wants to be part of a club.”
There were certainly moments where I wasn’t sure if it was working for me or not, but by the end I thought it told an amazing story. The comedy worked, and made it that much more powerful when it took a dark turn – and boy did it get dark fast!
It wasn’t my favorite movie of the year or anything, but I enjoyed it and was definitely glad I watched it.