Jojo Rabbit is Heartbreaking, Raw, and Hilarious

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Like many others, I was introduced to Taika Waititi through his satirical vampire comedy What We Do in the Shadows (written and directed alongside costar Jemaine Clement). It was funny enough for me to seek out and watch his heartfelt Hunt for the Wilderpeople starring Sam Neill. I even enjoyed and rewatched Thor: Ragnarok. So, I like Waititi's work, I like his style which emulates Wes Anderson but aspires to much more than settling for the wit and charm of Anderson's work. Waititi's Jojo Rabbit doesn't just aim to tell a story, it aims to communicate the way a horrific ideology can spread like a wildfire through children.

In some instances Jojo Rabbit gives you emotional whiplash. One moment you're accompanying our clever child protagonist on his adventures around Berlin, and the next you're faced with the horrors of war as a civilian in Nazi Germany. However, this whiplash is crucial to truly understanding how the joy of the privileged in Berlin could shatter at any minute, because no one is truly safe under a Nazi regime.

The film centers around Jojo, a young German boy who wants to be the very best Nazi he can, but he's only ten, can't tie his shoes, and his concept of Hitler is limited to what he's seen in propaganda and what his imagination conjures up as the sort of best friend he might want to go on adventures with. As you might have guessed, he doesn't really understand what being a Nazi entails, and as the horror of war dawns on him the pastel landscape he occupies fades into murky blues and grays.

Certain aspects of the film unintentionally beg to be compared to the style of Wes Anderson. From the fun German covers of poppy David Bowie tracks, to the meticulously framed Easter-pastel-colored scenery, Waititi's film has a similar visual style but offers much more than fun films like Isle of the Dogs and Moonrise Kingdom. This film has an enormous heart, it cherishes its characters deeply and none of them exist for the purpose of being the punchline to a joke. Jojo Rabbit isn't just a fun romp through World War II, it has a message about the horrors of war, the way a fascist regime brainwashes children to the point their parents barely recognize them, and the film wants to show you these themes without stating them out loud. Waititi knows his audience is smart, and he's not going to spell things out for the viewers.

2019 isn't over, but if December and what little remains of November don't offer anything better than Jojo Rabbit, I may have already found my favorite film of the year.

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