I watched Jojo Rabbit (2019) last night.
I’ve been interested to watch it for a while after reading and hearing good things about it so I finally took the plunge.
After a rocky start I wasn’t disappointed.
Written and directed by Taika Waititi (Thor: Ragnorok), the film is based on the 2008 book “Caging Skies” by Christine Leunen.
It stars the an excellent young actor called Roman Griffin Davis in his film debut, Thomasin McKenzie (The King), Sam Rockwell (The Way Way Back), Scarlett Johansson (We Bought a Zoo), Stephen Merchant (Logan) and Taika Waititi also stars as well as directing.
If you haven’t seen it this is what it’s about courtesy of IMDb:
“A World War II satire that follows a lonely German boy named Jojo (Roman Griffin Davis) whose world view is turned upside down when he discovers his single mother (Scarlett Johansson) is hiding a young Jewish girl (Thomasin McKenzie) in their attic. Aided only by his idiotic imaginary friend, Adolf Hitler (Taika Waititi), Jojo must confront his blind nationalism.”
I’ll admit, this film took a little while to grab me.
I didn’t know much about the story going in. I just knew that it was about a young nazi who has Hitler as his imaginary friend. It seemed a bit of a strange idea to me and I think that’s why I hadn’t rushed out to watch it.
Right from the start I found the humour a bit hard to get my head around. It’s pretty close to the mark in some places and I wasn’t sure if I should be laughing or not, but once I realised what it was all about I relaxed and started to appreciate it.
I’m glad I stuck with it because it wasn’t long before I was won over.
The performances from all involved are excellent.
For such a young actor with no previous acting credits Roman Griffin Davis is brilliant, especially in one scene in particular (not giving away spoilers). Thomasin McKenzie is also fantastic as the Jewish girl being sheltered from the nazis.
In fact the whole supporting cast are all really good, with my “current favourite actor” Sam Rockwell putting in yet another fine performance as Captain Klenzendorf. 👌
This movie might not be for everyone but I really enjoyed it. And based on the performances, the subject matter, satirical humour and visually striking cinematography I get why it’s been so highly praised.
Have you seen Jojo Rabbit? What did you think?
Let me know in the comments👇
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