Revisiting taika waititi’s unique 'jojo rabbit' during oscar season

It’s 2020 and I’m still burnt out on films about World War II. For this past awards season, we managed to get two more—Terrence Malick’s _A Hidden Life_ and Taika Waititi’s _Jojo Rabbit_. To

their credit, these films couldn’t be more different. But it still doesn’t stop me from wondering: How many more times will we get a tragic or bittersweet love story set in early 1940s

Europe? How many more times will we get a tale of mismatched friends in Nazi Germany? How many more spy movies will be set in WWII? The Holocaust and the end of the war are among the

biggest, most important moments in human history. But Hollywood can expand on other historical events, too. Sam Mendes’ _1917_ gave us a rare feature centered on World War I, but

stylistically it felt like a spiritual sequel to Christopher Nolan’s _Dunkirk_ (2017). For all these reasons, as well as because of the mixed reception from critics, I postponed watching

_Jojo Rabbit_ Waititi’s film is a lot of things, but it isn’t ordinary. If we have to get yet another WWII period piece, at least the New Zealand director puts a unique spin on it. He plays

Adolf Hitler himself, as a goofy, imaginary character fantasized by a 10-year-old boy named Jojo (Roman Griffin Davis) in Nazi Germany. Because the film is from the point of view of a little

boy, the feature has a light-hearted tone and style to fit his perception of the then current political environment. Hitler Youth training camp is portrayed like a summer camp while Jojo

and his friends are ignorant to the fact that they’re supporting racism and genocide. Jojo’s mother Rosie (Scarlett Johansson) is secretly against the war and German nationalism, and hopes

her son will grow out of his jingoistic naivety. Sam Rockwell, Rebel Wilson and Alfie Allen play the trio of camp leaders in charge. Many film fans—including myself—went into _Jojo Rabbit_

worried whether a murderous dictator would be portrayed in a comedically jovial fashion. Fortunately, while he is used as comic relief, it’s not forgotten just how terrible Hitler was —

particularly when the audience is rudely awakened by the end of the second act to the stark reality. Waititi has about 10 minutes of screen time, with the real heart of the film being the

relationship between Jojo and a Jewish teenage girl played by Thomasin McKenzie. Their scenes as well as the performances by Davis, Johansson and McKenzie are the best parts of the picture.

And yet, even with this, I still had trouble completely appreciating the full effort. Many I’m just tired of the genre, but as subversive as Waititi tried to be, the story’s plot was

actually pretty safe in the final execution. I’m not sure if _Jojo Rabbit_ deserves six Oscar nominations, let alone for Best Picture. But at least it wasn’t dull. _Megan Bianco is a

Southern California-based movie reviewer and content writer with a degree from California State University Northridge._