It’s definitely not a good time to be a nazi.

Nazi Germany, Hitler youth camps, a Jew secretly living in the attic. Downstairs, a humanist
single mother lives with her fanatical son, who’s imaginary friend is Adolf Hitler. This is
Taika Waititi’s newest satirical dark comedy ‘Jojo Rabbit’, based on the book ‘Caging Skies’
by Christine Leunens, and it is a must see. What is surprising based on the subject matter is
that it is an extremely enjoyable viewing experience, we have Waititi to thank for that. His
style is striking, the colour grading, soundtrack and costume design are all beautiful, and the
cast is stellar (Waititi plays Hitler himself, alongside Scarlett Johansson, Alfie Allen, Stephen
Merchant, Rebel Wilson, and Roman Griffin Davis, who’s leading role in this film is his
first).

Waititi manages to explore an extremely dark topic with an effortlessly light tone, he brings
history into the story book realm, the atrocities of Nazi Germany are told through the eyes
and experiences of a child, Hitler is placed in the innocently mischievous position of existing
as a child’s imaginary friend, although certain intricacies are overlooked, the simplified
version of history shown is not ignorant. Waititi and Jojo’s character bring the boundary of
understanding down to the level a child could possess, this clarity works extremely well for
audiences living at least two generations away from the reality of war. We are able to
understand the fanaticism of the Nazi party, their skewed beliefs and race war because it is
told to us as a fantastical tale of good and bad, monsters and heroes, and in true fairy-tale
style, the good guys win, love conquers all, but we already know that.

The story is a comment on blind fanaticism, in believing in something that you do not fully
understand, as Jojo grapples with his identity as a ‘good young Aryan boy’, a part of the
Hitler youth, and simply a 10 year old boy, he is challenged by his compassionate mother
who makes the dangerous decision to hide a young Jewish girl in her attic, while allowing her
son to express his political views, or what he thinks they are, freely, without judgement. Her
character is the voice of reason, the voice of the future, she sees past the war, committing
herself only to the endeavour of being a good person, regardless of the power structures
trying to stop that inherently human kindness.

Elsa: “You're not a Nazi, Jojo. You're a ten-year-old kid who likes dressing up in a funny
uniform and wants to be part of a club.”
It is an untraditional love story, one of adversity, and not necessarily a romantic kind of love,
rather the kind of love that only exists when everything else is lost, most importantly one we
still need to treasure.