Jojo Rabbit (2019)
Jojo Rabbit (2019), a war comedy-drama film written and directed by Taika Waititi, is based on Christine Leunens’s 2008 book Caging Skies. Set in the city of Falkenheim during the fall of Nazi Germany, the story follows ten-year-old Johannes ‘Jojo’ Betzler as he joins the Deutsches Jungvolk, a youth group under the Hitler Youth (HJ). Indoctrinated with Nazi beliefs, he relies on his imaginary friend Adolf – a foolish version of Adolf Hitler. The local HJ training camp is led by Captain Klenzendorf, who struggles with conflicted beliefs. Despite being given the nickname ‘Jojo Rabbit’ for refusing to kill a rabbit as proof of his loyalty, Jojo is encouraged by Adolf and returns to prove himself. However, his attempt at throwing a Stielhandgranate results in him getting injured and left with scars. Despite this setback, Jojo’s mother Rosie insists that he continue to be involved and gives him small tasks such as spreading propaganda and collecting scrap for the war effort.
While alone at home, Jojo discovers Elsa Korr, a teenage Jewish girl and former classmate of his late sister Inge, hiding in the attic bedroom where Inge used to sleep. Initially scared and aggressive towards Elsa, Jojo is faced with a dilemma as revealing her presence would put all three of them in danger of execution. Driven by Klenzendorf’s comments, Jojo continues to engage with Elsa in the hopes of uncovering her ‘Jew secrets’ and creating a picture book titled Yoohoo Jew that would make it easy for others to identify her as Jewish. As they spend more time together, Jojo grapples with his own innocence and slowly forms a friendship with Elsa. Meanwhile, Elsa sees the irony in Jojo’s extreme beliefs and uses absurd anti-Semitic stereotypes to challenge his rigid ideology.
Date of download: 2015-11-11T17:22:34+00:00
Cast:  Taika WaititiAdolf  Rebel WilsonFräulein Rahm  Stephen MerchantDeertz  Alfie AllenFinkel  Sam RockwellCaptain Klenzendorf  Scarlett JohanssonRosie  Archie YatesYorki |
Roman Griffin Davis
Thomasin McKenzieJojo Rabbit (2019), a war comedy-drama film written and directed by Taika Waititi, is based on Christine Leunens’s 2008 book Caging Skies. Set in the city of Falkenheim during the fall of Nazi Germany, the story follows ten-year-old Johannes ‘Jojo’ Betzler as he joins the Deutsches Jungvolk, a youth group under the Hitler Youth (HJ). Indoctrinated with Nazi beliefs, he relies on his imaginary friend Adolf – a foolish version of Adolf Hitler. The local HJ training camp is led by Captain Klenzendorf, who struggles with conflicted beliefs. Despite being given the nickname ‘Jojo Rabbit’ for refusing to kill a rabbit as proof of his loyalty, Jojo is encouraged by Adolf and returns to prove himself. However, his attempt at throwing a Stielhandgranate results in him getting injured and left with scars. Despite this setback, Jojo’s mother Rosie insists that he continue to be involved and gives him small tasks such as spreading propaganda and collecting scrap for the war effort.
While alone at home, Jojo discovers Elsa Korr, a teenage Jewish girl and former classmate of his late sister Inge, hiding in the attic bedroom where Inge used to sleep. Initially scared and aggressive towards Elsa, Jojo is faced with a dilemma as revealing her presence would put all three of them in danger of execution. Driven by Klenzendorf’s comments, Jojo continues to engage with Elsa in the hopes of uncovering her ‘Jew secrets’ and creating a picture book titled Yoohoo Jew that would make it easy for others to identify her as Jewish. As they spend more time together, Jojo grapples with his own innocence and slowly forms a friendship with Elsa. Meanwhile, Elsa sees the irony in Jojo’s extreme beliefs and uses absurd anti-Semitic stereotypes to challenge his rigid ideology.
