I saw JoJo Rabbit a couple of nights ago, and it blew my mind. It woke something up in me that I haven’t had from a movie for while. The closest I can get to another movie that did this was Donnie Darko, which at the time, was just so different, and completely unexpected.
The first thing that came to mind was a likeness to Calvin and Hobbes (Yukon Ho is my favorite!). The first interactions between Jojo and Hitler felt like, as in Calvin and Hobbes, that Hitler could be purely part of Jojo’s imagination, or an actual physical manifestation of some sort. I always felt that Hobbes was real anyway. So there.
The interaction between Jojo and Hitler reminded me of the freedom and escape that a kid can have through fun and excitement, which is especially magnified when World War 2 is the background to the movie. As the movie progresses, Hitler shows darker sides too, which suggest the conflicted sides of Jojo, where on one hand he’s just a kid trying to act like an adult, but still having fun, and on the other, an innocent kid who is drawn into hatred without thinking about the reasons why.
The crazy thing about it is the seamless slips between humor, evil, darkness and tenderness. You go from watching one thing, to something else entirely, without quite realizing. I guess that’s one of the things that stuck with me, as it happens several times, and certainly induced multiple ‘fuck me’ moments.
There’s so many little time bombs and payoffs too. Not all good to watch, but expertly done. I also loved all of the acting. It’s weird. I thought Taika Waititi would be one of the standouts, but the kid and his friend are amazing, and Sam Rockwell is something else. Really something else.
There’s also the thought of what happens after the war. It seemed that everyone was so used to being at war, that they didn’t look ahead. How this part was handled is amazing, and will probably make you cry. It didn’t make me cry, as I’m tough, and too tough to even cry inside.
So, I don’t want to spoil a thing. Just fucking see it! If you don’t like it, we probably shouldn’t be friends anymore.