Reflections
on “Jojo Rabbit”
Written
and directed by Taika Waititi
Based
on “Caging Skies” by Christine Leunens
Starring
Roman Griffith Davis, Thomasin MacKenzie,
Scarlett
Johansson, Sam Rockwell and Taika Waititi
Although this film is set
in Germany in 1945 and it deals with issues arising from that context, it uses contemporary
sensitivities and structural techniques to impart its messages.
10-year-old Jojo has been
conditioned and radicalised by the Nazi Third Reich and Adolf Hitler’s
rhetoric. There are numerous examples of the means and methods of moulding the
minds and bodies of these youthful citizens, and these are often presented with
a knowing and conspiratorial humour as absurd and at odds with modern ideals of
respect and humanity, especially as Jojo attends a Youth Camp where he is to be
trained in combat and survival. Activities are organised and presided over by
Klenzendorf, an officer whose wounds have precluded further front-line service
and whose cynical barbs have little meaning for his youthful audience but they may
resonate with the adult viewing audience.
Hitler, or a camp
child-like version of him, is Jojo’s imaginary best friend, emphasising the
absolutely essential part he has played in Jojo’s development and psyche, yet he
is adapted to incorporate Jojo’s underlying insecurities, attitudes and
anxieties. He is a sort of friendly guiding mentor who shares and tries to
respond to Jojo’s fundamental questions and doubts. However, as the film
progresses and Jojo experiences events, feelings and an understanding that
cause him to come into conflict with Hitlerian ideals, this Hitler mentor loses
his Jojo qualities and reverts more to type, allowing Jojo to see him more
clearly for what he is.
Jojo is keen to maintain
the security achieved through conformity and compliance, emphasised by his
regular wearing of a Nazi-style uniform, but his underlying and essential
humanity and empathy assert themselves when he is required to kill a rabbit,
thus proving he has the strength and willpower to kill for the Fuhrer but he
takes flight instead. Determined to show his courage and prove himself worthy,
he attempts to lob a grenade but ends up wounded and disfigured, perhaps thus
embodying the scarring of the nation’s youth through these actions.
Jojo’s natural compassion
and tolerance are further exercised and developed when he discovers his mother
has been sheltering a Jewish girl in his home. Contact with this girl, Elsa,
provides the opportunity to put to the test and disprove some of the plainly ridiculous
Nazi claims regarding Jews and as he converses with Elsa, Jojo develops a
relationship with her, subliminally causing him to doubt the validity of his
imposed Nazi outlook and views.
There are some nicely
observed scenes between Jojo and his mother, revealing relationship problems
which are exacerbated by Nazi models and conditioning, but which can always be
resolved by love and humanity. Jojo is plunged into confusion and vengeful
anger when his beloved mother is hanged for anti-Nazi activities, a discovery
he makes while appreciating the beauty, freedom and innocence of nature,
contrasting violently with the eye-opening consequences and brutal reality of living
under the oppressive Nazi regime. Driven by a desire to strike out and in
keeping with his indoctrination, Jojo tries to stab Elsa but his heart and his
gentle nature are not in it and she helps him recover as they turn to one
another to survive.
As the Allied forces
converge on their town, German forces, including Youth Leader Klenzendorf, make
a last-ditch attempt to defend their position. Jojo is implicated in these
actions because he has been given a Nazi Youth jacket and he is due to be
summarily executed along with Klenzendorf and the others.
In a way, Klenzendorf may
be viewed as an adult equivalent of Jojo. Although regularly used as a tool for
poking fun at the Nazis, he has displayed attitudes and has passed cynical and
knowing remarks which reflect a degree of experience, reflection and doubt
about the worth of the Nazi cause. He protected Elsa when she gave an incorrect
date of birth during an interrogation and now, as Jojo is about to be executed
at his side, he removes the Nazi Youth jacket from Jojo, rather symbolically
stripping him of all remaining vestiges of overt Nazi influence and pointedly
pushes him away, claiming he is a Jew, knowing that will ensure his safety.
Klenzendorf served his country faithfully and is willing to pay the price for
acts he has committed to that end, but reflection and humanity have led him to
abandon the faith that brought him to this point.
Jojo returns home to free
Elsa though he tries, childishly and unsuccessfully, to manipulate her into
staying with him and eventually, without a shred of Nazi uniform and in total freedom,
they dance to celebrate their emancipation.
Just prior to this, Jojo
is confronted by his best friend Adolf who now more distinctly resembles his
namesake when he rants and gesticulates in anger at Jojo as he tries to
re-assert his influence. However, by now Jojo has experienced what it truly
means to be a Nazi and, having reflected on these experiences and allowed
himself to be guided by reason and humanity, he rejects Hitler and his ethos in
no uncertain terms. He has become an independent thinker, unreliant on and
perhaps immune to indoctrination based on hate and manipulative lies used to
channel energy and effort to a dubious cause.
It was with some
trepidation that I approached this film as I often fail to appreciate what are
billed as “black comedies”. The clips I had seen suggested an anarchic style
which seemed to break the fourth wall, with characters virtually addressing the
audience, and I find that is rarely successful and requires a very delicate yet
sure-handed touch behind the camera. Fortunately, Taika Waititi possesses such
a touch and I thoroughly enjoyed his self-aware and funny, yet
thought-provoking, touching and engaging film.
As the film’s narrative
is largely presented from the perspective of a ten-year-old child, the almost
naïve and direct style of presentation is entirely apt and touchingly affecting
as it incorporates the child’s mind-set and understanding, yet the very purpose
and controlled composition of the film, knowing asides and moments of humour
make this a very adult and intelligent film.
My thanks for taking the
time to read this article. I hope you found it of some value.
Stuart Fernie (stuartfernie@yahoo.co.uk)
