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A30 PEOPLE & ARTS
Friday 18 OctOber 2019
'Jojo Rabbit' seeks humor in the darkest of places

By JOCELYN NOVECK and Roberto Benigni's "Life
Associated Press Is Beautiful," to name a few.
"Oh good, another Hit- Now comes the boldly,
ler comedy! It's been too unabashedly quirky "Jojo
long," said no studio devel- Rabbit" by New Zealand
opment executive, ever. director Taika Waititi, who
But of course, absurd as the attempts this fiendishly dif-
idea may seem, some at- ficult balancing act at a
tempts to wring humor from time when Nazi jokes seem
the horrors of Nazi Germa- even more potent and
ny have stood the test of dangerous than a few de-
time: Charlie Chaplin's "The cades ago.
Great Dictator," Ernst Lu- And that is precisely the
bitsch's "To Be or Not To Be," point, Waititi says: Now,
Mel Brooks' "The Producers," especially now, is the time

This image released by Fox Searchlight Pictures shows, from left, Roman Griffin Davis and Taika
Waititi in a scene from the WWII satirical film "Jojo Rabbit."
Associated Press

to remind younger genera- by Christine Leunen.) He He tries to redeem himself,
tions of what happened lives with his mother, Rosie but soon he'll face an even
more than 70 years ago. (Johansson), a spunky and more shocking challenge.
And what better tool, as radiant free spirit with, we In a closet, he discovers
Brooks has posited, than will learn, a major secret. that his own mother has
humor? That's his argu- But really, Jojo lives with Ad- been secretly harboring his
ment, anyway. olf Hitler. worst enemy, the villain he's
Whether you agree or not Yes, Hitler's his imaginary been taught to despise
— and indeed, many may friend, sort of his Nazi life above all others: the Jew.
not — it helps to know coach, as the young boy Only this one's name is Elsa,
where the director is com- prepares to don his uniform and she's young and beau-
ing from, personally. He is and join the Jungvolk of the tiful. And he can't find her
both Jewish, through his Hitler Youth, where young- horns, or any signs of evil
mother, and Maori, through sters are indoctrinated into powers.
his father. He has spoken the cause. Hitler is played Jojo's first instinct is to alert
of experiencing prejudice here by Waititi himself as the Nazis about Elsa (Thom-
as a child, and says he's more of a benignly goofy, asin McKenzie, the lovely
always been interested gangly misfit than, well, New Zealand actress who
in stories told through the the real thing. (He says he recalls a young Nicole Kid-
eyes of children. wasn't his own first choice man). But he soon realizes
That's exactly what he does for the role; actors weren't he and his mother would
in "Jojo Rabbit," which, clamoring to be Hitler.) likely be killed, too. And so
though it features high- At training camp, Jojo's he slowly gets to know her.
profile names like Scar- commander is the pre- Where does the Queen
lett Johansson and Sam posterously thickheaded Jew lay her eggs, he asks?
Rockwell, is anchored by a Captain Klenzendorf (a Do you live in caves? Some-
hugely sympathetic young predictably amusing Rock- times, she allows, "We hang
actor, Roman Griffin Davis, well, who knows from thick- from the ceiling." Gradual-
as a 10-year-old boy trying headed characters), aid- ly, the two become closer.
to be the very best Nazi he ed by his equally misguid- Elsa tries to get Jojo to real-
can. ed assistants, Finkel and ize he's not really a Nazi —
It's hard to believe this is Fraulein Rahm. The latter is just a 10 year-old "who likes
young Roman's film debut; played by Rebel Wilson, as dressing up in a funny uni-
he manages to exude both intentionally incongruous in form and wants to be part
a youthful whimsy and a a World War II film as you'd of a club."
sense of aplomb that be- imagine. "I've had 18 kids A tragedy late in the film
lies his age. It's also hard to for Germany," she declares will severely test the deep-
imagine the film succeed- to the young girls, who are ening relationship between
ing without such a sensitive expected to do the same. the two. But the war will
and winning performance Jojo is ordered to demon- eventually end, with drastic
at its core. strate his Nazi credentials implications for every char-
We meet Jojo toward the by wringing the neck of a acter. "It's definitely not a
end of the war, in the fic- rabbit. He can't bring him- good time to be a Nazi,"
tional town of Falkenheim. self to kill the poor thing, notes Jojo's young buddy
(The film is based on the and runs away into the for- Yorki drily, as the regime
2004 novel "Caging Skies," est, humiliated. collapses around them.q