Proof that comedy can and does develop from serious historical fact!
Jo Jo Rabbit – a prizewinning film distributed by Fox searchlight Pictures
The unmissable Jo Jo Rabbit will be In UK cinemas 3 Jan 2020. But here is some information to wet your palette for something to watch after the New Year!
Starring Roman Griffith Davis, Gilby Griffin Davis and Hardy Griffin Davis, (JoJo Betzler) Thomasin McKenzie,(Elsa) Sam Rockwell, Rebel Wilson, Scarlett Johansson (Jo Jo’s Mother), amongst other actors, the budget was $14M.
Directed by 44 year old Taika Waititi, a high talented and skillful New Zealand filmmaker who also co stars in the film playing the demanding role of Hitler, screened in the story as Jo Jo’s “imaginary friend”.
Jo Jo Rabbit is based on the book Caging Skies by Christine Leunens – a New Zealand Belgian feminist novelist. This semi-satirical black comic saga focuses on young Jo Jo (Roman Griffith Davis) who has been signed up to the junior Hitler Youth army in WW2 Germany and discovers his mother (Scarlett Johansson) is hiding a Jewish girl (Elsa played by Thomasin McKenzie) in their attic.
Rebel Wilson stars as an uber glamorous lady keeping the young Hitler army boys in check and there are some scenes of shooting and fighting. This film is very unusual in many ways, mocking the Nazis as well as the Jews, and so one must be aware of this before watching the movie. Jews are said to be mind readers who sleep upside down and there is a sketchbook which plays a role which has cartoons covering the Hitlerian era.
Winner of the top prize at the 44th Toronto Film Festival in September 2019, Jo Jo Rabbit has already been released in both New Zealand and the USA where it has drawn ambivalent attention to its comic portrayal of both the Nazis and the Jews but generally ranked as a very entertaining and original piece of drama expertly played out by the various high ranking actors in the story.
One of my favourite quotes is that “we don’t always want the same old same old”. It is the duty of writers actors and filmmakers to break new ground and think “outside the box”.
Jo Jo in the junior Hitler youth gets his name Jo Jo Rabbit from an incident at the beginning of the film which I won’t spoil by disclosing. His young friend Yorki and he have many adventures including collecting metal for the war effort and distributing propaganda for the same reason. Captain Klenzendorf is effortlessly played by Sam Rockwell and adds to the charisma of the story.
So there’s something to do in 2020 – see Jo Jo Rabbit and ENJOY.
Penny Nair Price