By: Elena Donatone
There are only a few movies that have the ability to look at historic events from a different perspective and JoJo Rabbit (2019) is one of them!
JoJo Rabbit is an American comedy-drama and it tells the hardship of World War 2 and the deranged beliefs of the Nazi Party from the perspective of a 10 year old German kid, JoJo (Roman Griffin Davis).
JoJo has been brainwashed, just like any other child from the “Hitler Youth”, to believe the Nazi Party and their insane ideas are the only means to save the country and the “supreme race”. He believes and faithfully supports the dictatorship, to the point of having Adolf Hitler as his imaginary friend!
“I wish more of our young boys had your blind fanaticism.”
But everything changes when he discovers Elsa (Thomasin McKenzie) , a Jewish teenage girl, living in his house to escape concentration camps and an ineluctable destiny. Elsa is hiding with the help of Rosie (Scarlett Johansson), JoJo’s mother, who is against the Nazi doctrine.
At first, JoJo is hostile and afraid of the girl. Every part of him tells him that she is Jewish and she is the enemy. But the more time he spends with her, the more he starts to consider her for what she is: a human being, just like him. Could it be that what he’s been told up until then was a lie and that Elsa is just as human as he is?
JoJo Rabbit brings a new perspective into the historic and war movie genre.
The movie reflects on a significant and desperate time in history through the eyes of an innocent kid. JoJo is not evil and he's not racist. He is just a kid who spent his childhood being brainwashed by the people in power at the time. He grew up thinking Jewish people are the enemy and that their goal is to weaken Germany. JoJo, unfortunately, doesn’t know any better than what he’s been told his whole life.
As soon as he meets Elsa, you can see his beliefs crumbling down. Elsa seem like a normal girl, funny and kind. As JoJo grows fonder of her, we can see a transformation of his character and of his confidence in the Nazi party and what they stand for.
“We’re like you, but human”
The amazing performance by Scarlett Johansson as JoJo’s mother makes the movie even more powerful and extraordinary. Her character, Rosie, is a strong woman who is brave enough to recognise the injustice and cruelty of the Nazi party. Her fight against it and the courage she shows in hiding a Jewish girl in her own home makes this character so empowering. She welcomes Elsa in her home like a daughter and feels obliged to protect her from the evil, which prevents her from living a normal life.
“You’re growing up too fast. Ten-year-olds shouldn’t be celebrating war and talking politics.”
JoJo Rabbit is a movie that will leave you reflecting on how the courage of a few people can save a life and change everything you believe in!
"Let everything happen to you. Beauty and terror. Just keep going. No feeling is final"
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