Movie Review: Jojo Rabbit (2019)

Jojo Rabbit (2019) written and directed by Taika Waititi

Jojo (Roman Griffin Davis) is a ten-year old boy in Nazi Germany. He wants to fit in and be cool, so he's part of the Hitler Youth and even has Hitler (Taika Waititi) as an imaginary friend. He's camping outdoors with the Hitler Youth when he gets the "Rabbit" moniker. To prove their cruelty and ruthlessness, the camp leaders want the boys to break the neck of a rabbit. Jojo is the first one selected to do it, but he just can't bring himself to kill an innocent bunny. The boys then mock him for his cowardice. Imaginary Hitler comes to comfort the boy. Later, trying to show how brave he is, he throws a live hand grenade which bounce off a tree and blows up right next to him. He's out of contention as a future soldier with his scarred face and barely functioning leg. He still volunteers at the Hitler Youth headquarters in town. His mom (Scarlett Johannson) tries to cheer him up whenever she can. She puts up with his Nazi nonsense and tries in very gentle and subtle ways to show him what is really going on. Those methods are too gentle and subtle for a ten-year old. Jojo's dad is off in Italy, presumably fighting for the Reich though a lot of mixed rumors and opinions are given--Did he die? Is he a deserter? Is he still fighting? Most of those opinion come from his fellow ten-year olds, so they are hardly reliable.

Things change in a big way when Jojo discovers a girl hiding in his deceased sister's room. The girl is a Jew named Elsa (Thomasin McKenzie). Jojo's first instinct is to report her but she points out that his mom will be in big trouble for hiding a Jew. Also she steals Jojo's Hitler Youth knife and threatens to cut his head off. So he has a very uneasy relationship with her as he learns more about her and he hides his new knowledge from his mother, who turns out to be more active than just hiding one Jew in her spare room.

The movie starts as a broad satire of Nazi culture and seems like it's just going to be a fun time mocking the stupidity of the Third Reich. Some subtle signs indicate that more is going on and about half-way through the story takes a very rough turn into the reality. It's late in the war and the Nazis are in denial about losing. Jojo's eyes start to open about what's going on and what's really important. By the end, there's more tension than comedy but the film earns the switch with its sincerity. 

A lot of the characters also follow the comic-to-serious arc of the film. Jojo's mom is whimsical and endearing but has a lot more going on underneath. Johannson gives a great performance. Sam Rockwell is also very good as the one-eyed leader of the town's Hitler Youth. His character starts as seeming comic relief--a jaded officer who still thinks he can fight but isn't allowed to. By the end of the film, he's shown more depth and understanding. Jojo himself starts off as a somewhat idiotic kid who is forced to mature through circumstances. The weakest performance is Waititi's imaginary Hitler, who is understandably cartoonish but his accent wavers between German and New Zealand in a very distracting way. As an imaginary friend, he has no character arc.

I'm tempted to compare this to Roberto Benigni's Life is Beautiful, which also has a big switch of tone halfway through. Benigni's film is two separable but connected stories (the romantic comedy and the desperate attempt to survive the concentration camp) set before and during World War II. Jojo Rabbit is one continuous story that changes in tone. Both films successfully navigate the change and are very moving portrayals. Both movies are more honest about the horrors than they seem from their trailers.

Highly recommended--this would make a great double-bill with Life is Beautiful. If you enjoyed that, you'll enjoy this film.

Movie Review: Iron Sky (2012)

Iron Sky (2012) directed by Timo Vuorensola

Here's a little Bronte break for those who need it! It sort of follows from the 1940s weekend though, right?

MPAA rating

R for language and some violence

ZPAA rating

Teens and up

Gore level

2 out of 10--One instance of bloody coughing and one head shot with bloody spray.

Other offensive content

Lots of bad language; some sex references; unsympathetic portrayal of world leaders, especially the President of the United States (maybe that isn't so offensive!).

Synopsis & Review

What if the Nazis built a base on the far side of the moon and evacuated some people there just before the end of World War II? And they were finally ready to come back and take over the Earth in 2018? And the first American astronaut captured by them was black? This premise is the sort of crazy comedy that appeals to me. At the end of our LoveFilm free month, I watched this movie on their streaming service.

The movie starts well with many broad comic strokes. Astronauts are sent to the moon by the President of the United States (who looks and talks like Sarah Palin) in a bid to raise her profile and help her re-election. So naturally the black guy is a model, not an actual astronaut. He'll look good in political advertisements. The actual astronaut on the trip scans around for Helium-3, a mythic power source that the American government wants. He is killed almost immediately by the moon Nazis, whose base he has discovered. The Nazis grab the black astronaut (though they can't tell his skin color because of his helmet) and take him back for questioning. The guy who captured him is planning a coup so he can be the new fuehrer on the moon base. This wannabe Adolph also has a schoolteacher girlfriend who becomes involved in the plot. Hijinks ensue.

The comedy works pretty well for the first half, mocking the shallowness of both the Nazis and the American president and even the United Nations. Exploring the moon base with its odd mixture of retro and futuristic technology (they still have gigantic, room sized computers in 2018!) and the silly Nazi culture (they have a ten-minute version of Charlie Chaplin's The Great Dictator which is edited down to make it look like Chaplin admires Hitler). Some of the Nazis eventually sneak to Earth to get more advanced technology (e.g. cell phones) to complete their fleet of flying saucers.

The second half of the film runs out of steam. The Sarah Palin gags just repeat themselves and aren't funny anymore. The launch of the Nazi attack on the earth is pretty cool-looking but it peters out too. The movie becomes formulaic and uninspired, which is a shame since it showed so much promise in the beginning.

If you want, you could watch half the movie. About the time they go see The Great Dictator on earth is when you can switch off. Nothing more to see here!

Movie Trailer

Terror Haza/House of Terror, Budapest

An unusual museum in Budapest is the House of Terror. The building was used by the Arrow Cross from 1939 to 1945 as a headquarters. The Arrow Cross Party was the Hungarian version of the Nazis. They called the building the "House of Faith" where loyalty of those in question was tested. The building was used not only as an administrative office but also for interrogations, torture, and murder. The communist state security police (first called AVO and later AVH) used the building for much the same purposes. They were less coy and called it the "House of Horror" from which few political prisoners returned. The museum chronicles the history of both regimes and their devastating impact on the country and on many individuals.

House of Terror, Budapest

The Nazi and the Communist terrors are remembered here

The museum doesn't allow photography so descriptions will have to do. The middle of the building is a small courtyard that looks up the four stories to a covered roof. A Soviet tank is parked in the middle. The walls of the courtyard are lined with pictures of those imprisoned, tortured, and/or executed in the building. Visitors wind their way around the courtyard up to the top where the tour starts. The exhibits follow a chronological order, documenting first the work of the Nazis with the Hungarian government through the Arrow Cross. As the war started going worse, the Nazis took over the government and thereby tried to ensure military and industrial support for their war efforts. Then the communists came in and followed many of the same policies and procedures. In addition to displaying records, uniforms, and other period pieces, video testimonies of survivors play on the walls. Some are in English, some in Hungarian. Many of the exhibits are a bit sensationalized, with music that pounds like a racing heartbeat or subdued lighting that dampens moods or minimal space that evokes claustrophobia. The museum is a bit controversial for its more modern way of displaying what happened. Also, some claim there's a lot more emphasis on the communists and not on the Nazis. It seemed fairly balanced to me considering the communists were there much longer.

The most striking part of the museum is the basement, where the torture and interrogations went on. Several of the cells have signs explaining how they were used. Some were too small to stand in or lie down in, making it uncomfortable. Some were only large enough to stand in, leaving the prisoner standing all day. Some were half full of water. Many of the cells have pictures of the prisoners who were held there. The gallows post from the front of the building is on display, as well as some of the torture devices, including a waffle iron (yikes!).

The museum does have audio guides which the ticket agents seem to discourage. I wish I had, since a lot of the exhibits came with long descriptions on paper. In addition to providing a lot of reading, many rooms had insufficient lighting to read.