Jojo Rabbit Blends Satire of Hate with Heartfelt Love

Maybe I was just expecting Jojo Rabbit to have a more vicious bite, being a satire on Nazis, but I was surprised to discover that this is a rather soft film. The Nazi targets are the subject of easy jokes, too absurd to ever be mistaken as anything other than comedy, but there’s more than just the humor.

Taika Waititi as Hitler and Roman Griffin Davis as Jojo in Jojo Rabbit. Photo by Kimberley French. © 2019 Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation. All Rights Reserved.

Perhaps one of the most interesting scenes is when young Jojo (Roman Griffin Davis) runs into the woods to cry. All alone, he’s approached by his imagined version of Hitler (Taika Waititi), who looks upon him with the affection of an after-school-special mentor. His speech, while ridiculous with its promises of a paradise under Reich rule, is also delivered with an earnest and heartfelt nature.

This is by far the strongest aspect of Taika Waititi’s film: the way it favors imagination and love over the more palpably insightful Nazi satire. This is pleasing considering the opening, which sees Jojo attending a Hitler Youth training camp, goes about the motions of gags fit for any skit show (or a Wes Anderson production, given the soundtrack). The kids are trained in firing guns, throwing grenades, burning books, and coming up with all sorts of evil rumors about Jews. This bit wears itself out after a while, but there’s thankfully a shift to something more profound.

When Jojo finds himself spending more time at home, we see a genuine love between him and his mother (Scarlett Johansson). Despite their difference in politics, they keep life in perspective by remaining loving and warm while the war outside rages on. Also genuine is the curiosity between Jojo and a Jewish girl, Elsa (Thomasin McKenzie). Jojo is frightened by her at first, having only heard of Jews as demonic beings with horns. But he’s intrigued, seeking to learn more and ease his fears. Though Elsa feeds him false information for a laugh, a bond soon forms. Love, even.

Elsa (Thomasin McKenzie) and Jojo. Photo by Kimberley French. © 2019 Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation. All Rights Reserved.

Much like Jojo himself, this film struggles to find its footing but eventually comes through. A brief chill came over me partway through my viewing that this would just be the Jojo and Hitler Show, with a kid taking all his lessons from the idealized Nazi leader. But when the film finally slows down with its antics and finds humanity within its wartime satire, the true heart of the picture saves it. It’s during the second act when the power of imagination in the face of not fitting a mold makes the most profound statement. This is best showcased in Captain Klenzendorf (Sam Rockwell), a wounded Nazi captain who can empathize with Jojo in trying to find a usefulness during the war. There’s also a chipper nature to finding the good in the world embodied in Jojo’s best friend, Yorki (Archie Yates), a kid Nazi soldier who can somehow muster a smile even when the war is lost.

There’s a delicate balance between the dark and the darkly comedic that makes this film’s love beat louder. We get to adore the relationship between Jojo and Elsa, which develops to the point that there’s true fear amid the goofy satire when it comes to the Gestapo (led by a towering Stephen Merchant). The threat of death is real, and Jojo’s mother ensures her son doesn’t turn away from the grim aspects of the war; when they walk past a public display of executed Jews and betrayers dangling in the center of town and Jojo tries to look away, his mother won’t let him. He needs to grow up and stop living under the belief that Hitler will be his best friend.

Photo by Kimberley French. © 2019 Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation. All Rights Reserved.

Jojo Rabbit has such a surreal quality that it feels strange to calls its irreverence charming and sweet. It never quite bites as hard as it probably should but always carries a certain sincerity that shines brighter than the gags. This is perhaps because we ultimately know what the Nazis’ fate will be, but we don’t fully know Jojo’s, and there’s hope that his imagination and heart will prevail. This is a surprisingly adorable film for tackling a rather dark topic, and Waititi goofs on Hitler in his own unique way.