8:50pm PM Screening at Hyland Cinema
Theatre Service: 10/10
Projection: 10/10
Jojo Rabbit 1hr 48mins
“Jojo Rabbit” was a story told from the perspective of a 10-year-old boy, Jojo “Rabbit” Betzler growing up in Nazi Germany upon the end of WWII. The introduction to the film is a bit hard to swallow as the stage is set with Nazi propaganda, and the world that consumes young Jojo as we discover he has an imaginary friend who happens to be Adolf Hitler.
The film is a comedy from the start, and at first, the phrase “Heil Hitler” may feel off-putting to hear in 2020 with such passion and excitement, throughout the film the phrase takes on the commonality of “What’s up” which really takes the punch out of it. This is a clear coming of age story that takes off with a young boy who believes that he’s going to be best friends with Hitler and his naivety is so overwhelming that he believes almost anything people will tell him, except of course the young Jewish girl he finds living in his attic. As a viewer you are really put into his perspective, what he holds dear, and why he thinks the way he does; he was raised to be the outcome of the propaganda he hangs on city walls, the posters he has in his room, and despite being blown up by a grenade in his Hitler Youth training camp still believes these things.
This film displays extreme heart and outstanding performances by Scarlett Johansson as Jojo’s mother, Tomasin McKenzie as the young Jewish captive, Elsa, and Sam Rockwell as his gay Nazi mentor, Captain Klenzendorf. Jojo’s mother’s character is a great example of someone trapped in a world where she doesn’t have much choice, is struggling to raise her son swept up by propaganda, while trying to help those she knows she can. We see very tender moments with her character consoling the young Jewish girl, and a heart-warming scene where she dresses up and acts as both Jojo’s parents at dinner.
There are moments of peace, but they are often juxtaposed with war torn soldiers, demolished cityscapes, and citizens hanged in the town square. Comedy was prevalent throughout the film, keeping the tone never too serious when it didn’t need to be but allowing for strong moments of sadness when it called for it. This film really knew its tone from beginning to end and had a soundtrack that fit with it scene by scene.
Cinematography throughout the film was fabulous, and was one of the main aspects that was able to ground the film. The camp scenes had a warm familiarity reminiscent of Wes Anderson’s “Moonrise Kingdom,” and the Anderson Style seemed to stick around throughout the film with its flat often symmetrical framing. One of my favourite scenes visually was the non-traditional night-time lighting which soaked the scene in such a shade of blue that it felt like stage play. The best part of the scene was that the fighting planes illuminated the night sky with a perfectly contrasting golden tone by dropping bombs. The end result is powerful.
The Production design was reminiscent of beautiful German city circa 1940’s as accurate as Brian Percival’s “The Book Thief.” The editing is highlighted with playfulness of the appearances and disappearances of Jojo’s imaginary friend, which were always clever, creative and well executed.
All in all I think this is a movie that leaves you with a feel-good feeling that proclaims a message of hope, perseverance, and equality that begs to be watched and watched again.
>> 8/10 <<
Pacing: 8/10
Editing: 8/10
Plot: 8/10
Acting: 8/10
Cinematography: 8.5/10
Re-watch-ability: 7/10
Soundtrack: 6.5/10