⚠️ SPOILERS BELOW ⚠️
A unique film from the perspective of a Nazi German boy displayed in satirical writing. Jojo Betzler is a 10-year-old German boy passionate about the Nazi party and Adolf Hitler. When he discovers that his mother has been hiding a Jewish girl upstairs, his entire devotion to the Nazi party is questioned. Jojo learns from Elsa that Jews aren’t as terrible as they are depicted by the Nazi party. A comical film with prominent messages along the way.
I absolutely loved this film! It consisted of aspects of a war movie but wasn’t entirely that. It’s a hilarious film with what would’ve been controversial scenes, but with Taika Waititi’s satirical writing, it ended up as a funny, educational topic. Taika Waititi’s directing is splendid! The story is brilliant, the cinematography is majestic, the cast is amazing, the writing is unpredictable.
The story is, at first, typical (Nazi helping a Jew hide) but having a young, passionate Nazi boy not wanting to hide a Nazi in the first place creates character development in the story. Having the film’s perspective from a young boy, the writing demonstrates a realistic display of history (propaganda in Germany, WWII) but not too grim, but in a comical, loving way so the movie is suitable for a wider audience making this film different from another war movie.
The characters are unique and hilarious. Having a satirical Adolf Hitler was brilliant at mitigating the tension of the film. I have never seen a satirical Hitler. The casting is just perfect and with so many big names. The German accents are accurate and understandable, unlike other films. Scarlett Johansson’s acting and accent were perfect! The outfits were perfect for the time period/piece film. They’re also colorful and compliment the scenery.
The soundtrack is fitting with the film and just great in general. I think I’m going to download some of the songs from the film’s soundtrack to my playlist. It was perfect with each scene it was incorporated in.
The cinematography was magnificent, definitely a cinematic experience. There were splendid, bright, varied colors with beautiful and unique landscapes that captured the atmosphere of Germany in the 1940s. It looked like a Wes Anderson film but the colors and scenes were more realistic.
The camerawork and directing were great specifically the blurry grenade scene and seeing the scenery from Jojo’s eyes.
Although the death of Jojo’s mother really upset me, it was a prominent, realistic grasp of what was exactly going on in WWII again. It allowed Jojo to grow up and realize that the Nazi party isn’t as right as they intend to appear. It also made you realize that, although it’s from a young boy’s perspective and his imagination, so much more was still going on during that period.
I loved this movie and how Waititi displayed it. On the surface, it seems like a light-hearted film from an imaginative little boy, but it carries a deeper meaning of life, love, and friendship. It doesn’t get too carried away with the unrealistic ideals everyone wants the characters to have. It was a hilarious, unique film with prominent meanings that I believe everyone should watch at least once in their life.
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