this post is spoiler free
“Jojo Rabbit”, the Academy Award for Best Writing Adapted Screenplay winner, tells the story of a young German boy named Jojo, who finds out his single mother is hiding a Jewish girl in their attic. This event pushes him to must confront his blind nationalism as World War II continues to rage on with the help of his imaginary friend Hitler. Now if you go around the internet a bit, you’ll find two very different opinions on this movie. Some people and critics claim that it isn’t exactly anything new, while some others claim that it’s truly unique and touching. After a trip to my local cinema, I think I can safely try to clear things up on the matter.
First, I have to admit; yes the themes illustrated in Jojo rabbit aren’t exactly all-new. The idea of depicting Hitler in a ridiculing way has been exploited many times, whether by Charlie Chaplin (“the great dictator”) or Disney. The Jew in the attic trope is honestly a classic of World War 2 movies at this point and the German resistance theme isn’t exactly untouched either (see “Sophie Scholl” by Marc Rothemund). Moreover, this movie, putting all these themes together, doesn’t exactly leave room for an in-depth approach to any of these tropes. Personally, if I wanted to watch a movie on any of these themes, there are thousands that would come to mind. A lot of movies depict the Second World War, the German resistance and the horrors experienced by the Jews way better than “Jojo Rabbit”.
Then again, the people who claim that “Jojo rabbit” is a unique movie aren’t completely wrong either. What is new here isn’t the themes of the movie but the perspective from which they are seen. Even though it’s a pretty small percentage, there are movies from the perspective of German nationalists, but never from the point of view from a young child. This film shows us how a young innocent child could get affected by the ideas and doctrines surrounding him. It is only natural that a child, not knowing better, would look up to the “cool club” of Nazis and participate in the discrimination against Jews. Furthermore, the film shows us how a misinformed young child who idolizes Hitler, slowly starts to open his eyes to what’s happening around him and slowly begins to differentiate lie from fiction until he finally learned how to think for himself.
Finally, I wouldn’t say this movie, filled with a healthy dose of laughs and feels, is completely unique or that it’s nothing new. It has overused tropes like it has some generally new and intriguing ones. Now, in my opinion, to say it’s a one of a kind masterpiece would be too much but I think it’s worth checking out for the interesting new approach it took to on the topics illustrated.
golden cult 